


A Lady's Tail

by Cutiefangs



Series: Kelpie's Adventures [1]
Category: Overlord - Maruyama Kugane & Related Fandoms
Genre: Blood, Blood frenzy, Comedy, Enemies to Lovers, F/M, Naga, Panic Attacks, Romance, Self-Indulgent, Slice of Life, Slow Burn, Violence, angel - Freeform, basically doing what i want, but onesided, general anxiety, low karma, the new world
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-12
Updated: 2021-01-04
Packaged: 2021-03-09 18:14:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 22,543
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27520585
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cutiefangs/pseuds/Cutiefangs
Summary: Kelpie Dark was a solo player who enjoyed her life in Yggdrasil, but when the shutdown happens, her life is completely turned around. Navigating through the new world is hard, but with the help of NPCs and her old friend, she'll discover how content she can be.
Relationships: Ainz Ooal Gown | Momonga/Albedo, Demiurge (Overlord - Maruyama Kugane)/Original Female Character(s), Pandora's Actor/Original Male Character(s)
Series: Kelpie's Adventures [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2026136
Comments: 23
Kudos: 78





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Real Life on the Seventh Floor](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17506664) by [Kensalyn](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kensalyn/pseuds/Kensalyn). 



> Hello and welcome to my oc story! This is a story for fun i've made for my naga oc. Thanks for your interest in my story, please sit back and enjoy!

The rustling glide of scales on smooth stone echoed through a long cavern. There were several small indents along the wall, leading to adjacent rooms. They were near impossible to find, unless someone knew what to look for. There were trap rooms randomly spread throughout the hall. The remaining rooms each had a different specific purpose, such as being a lab, bedroom, smithery, mine, etc. At the entrance of every room had a hidden alarm system made of a crystal that activated an alarm spell when an unknown entity walked through. 

The rustling stopped as a naga stopped moving and caressed a hand down the nearest wall. Her name was Kelpie. She had short pixie cut black hair, purple eyes with square glasses, and sharp venomous fangs. Her black tail was incredibly long with splatters of purple all over. She wore a dark grey pinstripe corset. 

This was her base. It wasn’t as grandiose as some she had seen, such as The Great Tomb of Nazarick. Her friend Zoba was in the guild and had shown her around it one day. It was basically a masterpiece that anyone would be in awe of. Hers...was not. It wasn’t flashy nor extravagant, but it was useful. She was incredibly proud of it.

She had first discovered it when she was exploring a small mountainous area of the map. Not many people came there because it was rumored to be barren. Her objective was to see if the rumors had actually been true, afterall, Yggdrasil had so many niche secrets that something appearing to be empty could be a possible treasure trove. She roamed around for several hours that day, not finding anything until she stumbled onto the cave. It was a tiny, barely noticeable cave that couldn’t even fit her tail inside. The possibility of it being a secret entrance to a hidden dungeon was 90% in her head, but 0% in actuality. Her first thought was to just cut her loses and leave to find a real dungeon, but something made her stay. Even now she couldn’t say what it was that made her spend weeks carving out the beginning of the cave. It just felt right. 

She never really stopped carving it out either. Every time she logged in and had available time, she would spend 30 minutes to an hour expanding it. As of now it spanned throughout the entire mountain area. She first began expanding it because she had wanted extra space, but continued it due to the mountain range being rich with precious stones and metals. Expanding it every day would give her a profit of over 100 metals or gems. 

She sighed deeply and turned to look at her NPC, Goren. He was near identical to an Archangel of Flame, except for some key differences. Being at level 80, he had way more power than them. His halo was a swirling mass of molten gems. A good amount of her gems went into decorating him. His angelic metal body was almost completely covered with gems and stones of different composition and color. Technically he wasn’t supposed to exist since she was only a solo player, but through the use of a world item she had stumbled upon he was able to come into existence. While not necessarily a handsome NPC, he was very pretty to look at with the rainbow of colors on his body. 

Flicking her hand in the air, the screen of the menu popped up. The clock counting down the seconds mocked her. In less than 3 minutes Yggdrasil and everything from it would be gone forever. Her avatar, NPC, and base, gone like a piece of paper going up in flames. Pulling up her friends list, the green font of two players rested at the top, Momonga and Zoba. Seems they were online too. She quirked a smile, happy that she wasn’t the only one seeing Yggdrasil off. She was, at most, a step above acquaintances with Momonga, but he was a fun guy that cared deeply about the game. She couldn’t imagine him not being here for the shutdown. 

Zoba was one of her one of her closest friends in the game. They had first met while they both were dungeon crawling and ended up partying together to beat the final boss. Even though she was not an official member of the Ainz Ooal Gown guild, Zoba would still go farming and dungeon crawling with her. 

Kelpie hovered her hand over the message option, but let it drop down. She wanted to talk one last time, but didn’t want to interrupt anything either of them were wrapping up. These last moments felt too sacred to do so. There was a tension in the air that said she needed to be alone in these final moments.

Less than two minutes remaining now. She felt the seconds ticking by like an execution and in a way, it was. She slid her hand into one of the indents in the wall and a section of the wall scraped silently across the floor. Slithering through, she glanced around the room. Shelves filled with items ranging from magic books to limited time drops lined three of the walls. The fourth had a drawered desk with a simple wooden chair in front against it and an anvil to the left. The center had a huge bundle of furs from several different high leveled beasts. This was her bedroom in all its glory. 

One minute remaining. There was nothing she could do to stop the horrible march of time, but wait for the inevitable. Wiggling her tail under the top layer of fur, she settled down on the top of her coiled tail. She imagined the softness of the fur and the warmth that radiated from it. Her eyes drifted shut and she counted down.

5

4

3

2

1

0

....

The forced consciousness of her IRL body never came. She peeked an eye open, expecting to see the white ceiling of her dorm bedroom, but instead, her vision was filled with the dark grey of stone. 

What...was going on? She pushed her hand down to get up, but paused.

A plush warmth pushed against her hand. Almost the same feeling she had imagined a few seconds earlier. Her eyes drifted down and confirmed, yes that was indeed her fur bed. 

Huh, different possibilities popped inside her head. Am I hallucinating? Am I in a coma? Am I dead? Am I trapped in the game? She lazily flicked her hand up and-

Nothing appeared.

“The fuck?”

She flicked her hand again and again, but still nothing appeared.

“Ok, the menu doesn’t seem to work. Great.” 

Kelpie ran her hand through her hair and propped herself up. Immediately, she fell forward and slammed her face against the floor. Her tail stayed passively coiled on the bed. Shit, she had forgotten about that. Note to herself, trying to move her feet would not move her tail. 

Putting a hand on her chin, she stared at it. 

The color was even more vibrant now than it was before. The black was so sheek while the purple glowed brilliantly. With a light hand, she tentatively touched them and shivered. That was a new experience. Her hand felt the cool, smooth texture of the scales, while her tail felt a muted pressure against it. Almost like a cloth between her hand and tail. It wasn’t unpleasant, just unfamiliar. 

She shifted her hand and lifted the middle section of her tail. It wasn’t as heavy as it looked. She didn’t think her tail should be this easy to lift. 

Was it possible that she became stronger? She gave it a second of thought, but she shook her head to dispel the thoughts, no time to think about that right now. 

She placed her other hand on the opposite side of her tail and shook it back and forth to imitate the side to side movement of snakes. The feeling certainly was different from legs. Her tail had a lot more flexibility and there wasn’t the feeling that it should be one certain way. With legs, it's not possible to bend it in any way other than forward, unless the bone was broken. She could move and twist her tail in almost any direction. It was kind of freeing to not have any movement restrictions.

Committing the sensation of her tail moving to memory, she took a deep breath and tried to stand up. Well stand up as much as one could with a tail. It was a different balance than she was used to, more unstable. She no longer had two rigid foundations, but one long fluid foundation. She wobbled unsteadily side to side and immediately face planted.

Again.

Ok.

One more time. She could do this! 

She pushed herself back up, rubbing her face lightly with one hand. She wobbled horribly, but, by extending her arms to the side, didn’t fall over right away.

Progress!

She inhaled and tried to stabilize her center of mass. She shook slightly, but had enough balance to try moving forward. She visualized the image of a snake moving. Its entire body would swerve left and right, so maybe she should try that. It didn’t seem right for her to move all of her upper body though. That would disrupt her delicate balance.

She lightly swung her hips back and forth. It felt absolutely ridiculous, but she couldn’t deny it gave her results. She successfully slithered out from the fur pile. 

With the basics down, she spent the next ten minutes practicing how to move. She fell a lot the first half but was able to gradually work up from a slow crawl to a fast slither. The longer she practiced, the more her tail felt right. Like this was the way she was supposed to exist.

Well, one thing done. Now to figure out what was going on here. First step, exit her bedroom. She slipped her hand back into the indent and the door slid open. A warm and pleasant breeze brushed against her, causing her arms to erupt in goosebumps. It felt like she was outside in the middle of winter and the breeze was the little bit of sun shining down. Why was it so cold? 

Pulling a small fur from her bed and wrapping it around her shoulders, she slithered out of the room.

The wind blew from the direction of the entrance, so she decided to head that way. The walls passing by her were enchanting. She had never paid much attention to them before, being just a simple background to her, but now she wondered if she just never looked hard enough. The walls shimmered with rainbow particles in a nice contrast with the dark grey of the stone. She lightly brushed her hand down it. The texture was very smooth like a polished stone and warm to the touch. 

Why was everything so much more vivid? What was the cause behind it? The scientific part of her was desperate for the answer. 

She absently ran her finger tips along the wall. The smooth surface paired with the warmth was a calming tactile stimulation. Texture was a coping technique that worked decently well for her. 

Breath in and out, in and out, in and out. 

So much happening in so little time was overwhelming. 

Deep breath in and out, in and out, in and out.

She dropped her shoulders, releasing the tension in them. 

Ok, she was ok. She could get through this.

She wrapped the fur tighter around herself and continued onward, still dragging her hand across the wall. The cave got brighter and brighter until the light shining from the outside was visible. She could see the… greenery… of the outside?

She rushed forward, the fur slipping off her shoulders and onto the floor, forgotten. The sun beat down on her still body. She glanced around, twisting around to take in all of her surroundings. 

A forest.  
She was in a fucking forest! 

Trees so densely packed together that she couldn’t even see past them. Shrubbery with berries and thorns at the bases. She was supposed to be in the mountains!

What the fuck! Whatthefuck! _Whatthefuck!_

Her heart pounded in her chest and her breath quickened into hyperventilation. 

Fuck! Fuck!

She clutched her head tightly as her vision swirled. She tried to force air into her lungs, but it wasn’t working. Her body swayed haphazardly and she collapsed against the bark of one of the trees. 

Oh god, she couldn’t breathe!

Calm down, calm down, calm down. 

She put two fingers against the pulse point on her neck and took deep breaths. One, two, three, she counted up to ten and started over, letting her heart rate settle. 

She inhaled, held it for a few seconds, then exhaled, repeating it until her heartbeat and breathing returned to normal. 

Ok, good. She was calmer. 

She pushed her weak arms against the tree and righted herself. Hopefully her nausea would subside in a few minutes. 

Shutting her eyes and tilting her head back, she took in the sounds of the world around her. It was strangely quiet, not a single bird chirping or any rustling of small animals scavenging for food. It should have sent warning bells through her mind, but the silence was too nice for her high nerves. 

Seriously, what was going on? She knew her dreams weren’t this vivid, so she couldn’t be sleeping. The coma theory was still a possibility but very low. 

Maybe this actually was her new reality somehow, but it just didn’t make any sense! It had to be an error of some kind in the game. 

A breeze blew through her and she shivered again. Scouring the ground around her revealed that nothing was there. Shit, where was her fur? Did she drop it in her panic?

Her teeth clattered and she wrapped her arms around herself. She made a plan in her head to find a permanent solution for the cold to replace the fur. She turned around and glided towards the cave. 

_Snap_

A branch behind her broke in half. Shit, it really had been too quiet. Of course something had been wrong!

Instinct took a hold of her. She spun around and hissed, the sound echoing through the forest. Her fangs elongated and venom pooled at the tips. Distortion took over her voice, slurring the S as she shouted.

“Who are you?! Ssshow yourself now!”

The green brush parted and out stepped a shiny silver angel with multi-colored stones all over his body. His arms were raised as he spoke carefully, his voice a quiet baritone.

“My lady, it's just me. I apologize for leaving your side. I should have asked permission to do so. I will take any punishment you wish to impose.”

He kneeled in front of her, waiting patiently and radiating shame. Her body slouched back, resting against her coiled tail. She relaxed her face, allowing her fangs to shrink back to their normal size, no longer producing venom.

Holy shit.

“Goren, is that you?”

“I assure you, my lady, I am no mimic. If needed, I can show proof of my identity”

He remained completely motionless, his head bowed in submission. It was so surreal that she doubted that he was actually there. She closed her eyes and rubbed her temples. The panic was bubbling back up into her chest, but she took deep breaths to stave it off.

“My lady, are you ok?! Give me the order and I'll do whatever it takes to aid you!” 

She opened her eyes and peered at him. Yep, he was still there, but now his head was raised, staring at her. There was no change in his facial expression, but from the heavy concern lacing his voice, she knew he was deeply worried about her. 

“Ah, yeah. I’m uh… I’m ok, just give me a second to contemplate.”

“Understood.”

He continued staring at her and it felt like he was staring into her soul. 

“Actually, would you go retrieve my fur? I dropped it somewhere inside.”

“Of course! It would be an honor!” He exclaimed, his voice full of happiness.

Swiftly standing up, he gave Kelpie a deep bow and rushed into the cave. 

With a heavy sigh, she rolled her shoulders and rubbed the back of her neck with one hand. It was nice to not have the heavy weight of his stare on her, but she was a little sad at the absence of his company. His eagerness to help was really cute, like an excited puppy. It lifted her spirits and reminded her of how she interacted with her own friends, extremely loyal and excited just to be with them. Some of her IRL friends would even call her a golden retriever with how excitable she was. 

It was possible that it would come back to bite her, but she decided to trust him completely. He seemed too earnest to betray her. Plus trusting him would save her more hardship for the meantime.

His hurried footsteps clanked from behind her. She turned to him and gave a small smile. The fur was clutched in his arms as if it was a sacred object. It was impossible for his facial expressions to change, but he still managed to radiate happiness as he reverently held the fur out to her.

“Here is your fur, my lady! Is there anything else I can do for you?”

“Thank you Goren. I’ll let you know in a moment.” 

She grabbed the fur and gently wrapped it around herself. That was so much nicer. The cocoon of warmth banished the cold. No longer feeling trapped in the middle of a blizzard, she could think more clearly. The cold and large amount of new information had given her sensory overload. 

She observed Goren. He was intensely watching her again, probably waiting for her response. He had been acting very interestingly. He was so subservient and worshipful, like she was some kind of goddess. Was this part of a scenario the developers had set up? If so, she wished she had been given some kind of warning. She clicked her tongue and addressed Goren.

“So I assume you went exploring. Did you discover anything?”

“Yes! It seems that we are between a mountain range and a forest. I found no signs of the mountain we were in previously. There appears to be a city and small village in the distance. The village is closer than the city. If you wish, I can lead you there.”

She tilted her head and hummed.

“Yes, that would be good. Thank you.”

Visiting the village would be very advantageous. It was likely where she could get more information about this new scenario and how to complete it. She didn’t really need Goren to lead her to it. With her ranger skills, she could easily find it herself, but having Goren with her would be comforting.

“Understood, please follow me, My Lady.” 

Goren turned and led her through the forest. Trees passed by quickly and she easily maneuvered over the roots and uneven ground. It was a normal forest except for the missing ambience of life. She slithered her way up to Goren, matching his walking pace.

“Goren, do you know why there are no animals around?”

Goren tilted his head to look at her.

“Of course. While you were resting, I took the opportunity to establish our territory. There were many species that had territory near the cave, so I defeated all of them. The other animals are likely avoiding us out of fear. Any who dare to challenge you will be struck down.”

His voice dripped with malice as he spoke the last sentence. Anyone with a sane mind would be filled with unease from hearing the deadly tone, but it just filled her heart with happiness, causing her tail to slap the ground repeatedly. 

“Good job! That will save us so much trouble! If we don’t need to worry about animals tripping them, we could install several traps and extend the alarm system outside the cave. Possibly even making dummy caves.” 

She paced back and forth muttering to herself about what traps would be good to put down, but was interrupted by Goren gurgling and dropping down to one knee.

“My Lady! I am undeserving of your praise! It is my duty to fulfill your wishes and protect you. Everything I am belongs to you and if you commanded it, I would happily die for you!”

Her mouth fell open and she stared at him. She was just giving him a compliment, how had the conversation turned so serious?? She rushed forward and pulled his arm up. He gave no resistance and rose to his feet.

“No, no, no, there is no need to die! I gave you a compliment because you deserved it! It would make me very happy if you were to accept.”

“I...Yes, of course. I humbly accept your words.”

He tried to kneel again, but Kelpie held his arm tighter and gave him a stern look.

“Enough kneeling. You were showing me to the village, right? Let’s continue with that.”

He gave a simple nod and turned to continue through the forest. Kelpie sighed in relief and followed after him. His personality was different from what she expected. She hadn’t given him the worshipping trait, so where had it come from? She would ask him why he was so reverent but she was worried that he’d do something extreme again. 

She shrugged her shoulders back and focused her attention to the forest. They were getting closer to the edge of the forest. The trees were thinning out and she could start to make out the image of a village. The first thing she should do upon arrival would be to gather information. Knowing where they were currently was priority number one, but it would also be good to discover the main quest. Finishing it was probably the key to getting her menu and ability to log out back. 

Now that she thought about it, the immersion was incredible. The devs must have worked really hard on this, especially the npcs. She always imagined the personal npcs having a monotone voice, but Goren’s was incredibly expressive. She was interested to see more of his personality as well. She had originally programmed him to be shy and blunt.The blunt trait was intact, but the shyness was nowhere to be seen. In the future, would she see it through his interactions with other people, maybe even other players? 

There had to be more players spawned into random locations like her. It couldn’t be just her, right? Yeah, it couldn’t be just her. Meeting another in the village would make her day. They could share information and figure everything out faster. 

“My Lady, we’ve arrived.”

Goren’s quiet voice cut through her thoughts.

The village was just beyond the edge of the forest where they stood. There were several stone houses surrounding a wooden watchtower. Several villagers were wandering around doing menial chores, such as wood chopping and tending the fields. Kelpie scanned the area, searching for anyone that looked important. They would be the one most likely to be the quest giver.

“I don’t see the chief, what about you?”

“I apologize, My Lady, but I am also unable to.”

She clicked her tongue in annoyance. She would just have to go searching for them then. Hopefully they’d be outside, she didn’t really want to search through all of the houses for them.

“Goren, use your skill “Hide Shadow”. We don’t know if the village is safe or not. They look harmless, but you can never be too careful. Stay in my shadow until danger appears or I give the order, understood?”

“Of course!”

He crossed his arm over his chest with a bow and melted into darkness that tunneled down into her shadow. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Ok, time for answers. She set her shoulders and crept towards the village.

The field workers in front of her were hard at work, weeding and harvesting the wheat. They remained oblivious to her existence until she started crossing across the field, trying to avoid crushing any crops. The first to see her was a young male villager around the age of 18. His scythe slashed through the wheat stalk and he pulled the bundle away cleanly. He was laying the bundle into his basket when his eyes met with Kelpie’s. For a moment, nothing happened. They stared at each other, neither making a single movement. She lifted her hand to wave and all hell broke out.

The villager opened his mouth and let out the loudest scream she had ever heard. He turned tail and sprinted towards the houses. The others lifted their own heads to investigate and gave their own screams of terror. They retreated the same way as the young man, shoving and trampling the ones in their way. One was unfortunate enough to trip. He fell pathetically to the ground and whimpered in pain as he was slowly trampled to death. His lifeless body laid there, blood pouring out from under it.

The screams flowed through the air like an orchestra symphony and euphoria welled up in her chest. 

This was exciting! 

A breeze blew across the field and carried the metallic scent to her. She slowly inhaled then exhaled, enjoying the scent. It was enticing, like the smell of thanksgiving dinner on an empty stomach. 

Her pupils dilated into slits as saliva pooled in her mouth. Her fangs elongated, venom dripping down them. The sounds and smell were amazing and she wanted, no, needed more! A long hiss reverberated from deep in her chest. The sound traveled through the village and wails erupted from just beyond the houses.

Yessss, she liked that! More, more!

She flew across the field and entered the village. A mob of villagers were waiting for her with torches and pitchforks in hand. They shook where they stood and she could hear the loud pounding of their hearts. The fear was thick enough that she could smell it and it was as delicious as the bloody scent. 

Good, they should fear her! A forked tongue flicked out and she licked her lips. She could practically taste their flesh already. A hunting horn boomed out and like a flash, the mob charged her. 

Foolish~

The world slowed down to a crawl as adrenaline shot through her body. She could clearly see the terror on the front line’s faces. They knew their chances of survival were low, but they still had the smallest amount of hope inside of themselves. She would enjoy crushing that~

She crouched her body down and shot forward with explosive force. Slashing her hand in an arc, the heads of all the frontliners flew from their shoulders. Blood erupted out like a volcano and the bodies collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut. It happened in an instant, leaving no time to react before they were dead. The mob collectively shuddered in fear. Many of the back liners dropped their weapons and ran for their lives, crying pitifully and letting prayers fall from their lips. She gave them a glance but didn’t chase after them. She had enough of a feast before her to ignore the stragglers. Kelpie brought the back of her blood covered hand to her mouth and dragged her tongue across it. The blood was sweet like a piece of candy. 

Tasty! Tasty! Tasty!

A feral grin overtook her face and drool dripped out the corner of her mouth. How nice would it taste right from the source? 

A muscular elder stepped forward with an axe, staring defiantly. Yes, he would do nicely as an example. Let them see what happens to those who defy her! He rushed forward and swung the axe at her head. 

Slow! Slow! Slow!

She thrust her arm at his neck, her fingers wrapped tightly around his neck and she lifted him off the ground. The axe clattered to the ground.

“Let thisss be a warning to you all. Those who defy me, die painfully.”

She unhinged her jaw and bit down on his shoulder. His agonized scream intensified as she pumped venom into his bloodstream. Releasing her hand, he slammed into the ground and convulsed wildly. He would die slowly and painfully. She brushed her thumb across the corner of her mouth. 

Laughing maniacally, she asked,

“Who'sss next?”

_________

She woke up from her trance several hours later, the taste of blood thick on her tongue and piles of bodies surrounding her. Her fur was drenched enough that there was no sign of its original color. In just one day, she had completely obliterated a village. 

The slickness of the blood covering her cooled her body uncomfortably. Yet, it still wasn’t a horrible feeling. 

Oh god, what had happened? Memories overwhelmed her mind with perfect clarity. The revulsion she should have felt was completely missing. In fact, just thinking about it was enough to make her happy. She touched her hands to her face and felt the smile she had.

She dry heaved. Why wasn’t she horrified by her actions?? What had happened to her?? 

Oh god, this couldn’t be the game! It couldn’t be! The game couldn’t affect her thinking and feelings!

Hyperventilation took her over and she clawed at the invisible pressure squeezing her neck. 

This was real! She had just murdered whole families and enjoyed it! Worse was that she wanted to do it again!

Her vision became hazy and black spots appeared all over. She fell forward, the sensation muted to the point of nonexistence. She dug her fingers into the ground and tried to drag her body away from the glassy eyed bodies. She raspily called out in desperation.

“G...Goren...Help…”

The sight of Goren rematerializing and reaching for her was the last thing she saw before everything went black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed! Again this is just a story for fun, so please no critique unless its a spelling error somewhere lol. I enjoy any positive feedback.
> 
> Zoba is the oc of Kensalyn. Her story Real Life on the Seventh Floor is worth a read if you haven't read it yet. Her story is linked in the inspired by.
> 
> If anyone is interested, you can see more information of Kelpie and Goren at https://celestial-archer.tumblr.com/
> 
> Thank you for reading!


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! I got this chapter out as quick as I could. I hope you guys enjoy!

Kelpie’s consciousness forced itself upon her. She woke up gasping for air, her vision blurry to the point of blindness. Her nails dug themselves into the ground, ripping up whatever was below her.

Where was she??

There was a heavy pressure pinning her down and the world felt like it was spinning her around. Pain tingled her whole body like soreness after an intense workout. Nausea threatened to overwhelm her but she swallowed heavily to keep the bile down. Tears slid down her cheek. 

She tried to raise her head but she couldn’t. Her body was paralyzed and she was forced to watch as memories of the previous unfolded vividly in her mind. Becoming her avatar, Goren, the village, the massacre, each as real as when she had experienced it.

The massacre…

She could feel the euphoria of their harmonious screams and the sweetness of their blood, the taste remained on her tongue like a stain. Her hands ripping a man’s rib cage open and eating his heart in front of horrified villagers. The satisfying crunch of a woman’s head being crushed between her tail. Vision after vision of gruesome deaths and the happiness filling her heart at the sight.

It was disgusting, awful, heartless, and an absolutely beautiful sight. 

It was so horrible that she wanted to vomit.

It was so beautiful that she wanted to do it again. 

What had she turned into? 

...But that was a stupid question wasn’t it? She knew exactly what she had become. She was a man-eating naga, the same race she had chosen for her avatar in yggdrasil. It was impossible and yet, here she was. The paralysis eased away and her senses slowly returned to her. Her body still tinged with pain, but thankfully the nausea was gone. 

She focused her eyes. The same dark grey stone as yesterday. She peered her eyes downward and confirmed that the pressure holding her down was fur piled on top of her body.

So she was in her bedroom again. How ironic and fitting.  
Her eyes drifted closed and she pulled the top fur over her head. God she was so exhausted. If only she could stay under the blankets forever. She wouldn’t have to deal with the situation at hand and could pretend everything was ok. 

Everything was ok…

Everything was ok....

She repeated it in her mind over and over. How nice that statement sounded and what utter bullshit it was! The only way everything would be ok was if she could no longer feel emotions. She could ignore the atrocity she had committed. It wasn’t even that she felt guilty about it, she actually felt no regrets. It was the fighting of her emotions versus her internalized morals. All her life, she had held onto very strict morals. It didn’t matter if breaking them would benefit her more than following them, she stuck to them. 

But what now? She couldn’t just never kill another human again. She could feel it under her skin; this wasn’t a simple want. This was a need. Her body craved for violence, flesh, and blood. She was built to hunt, maim, kill, and devour. 

It was a built in part of her avatar. The naga class had several subtypes. Every naga subclass was either omnivorous or carnivorous. The omnivores had small ability bonuses across the board, while the carnivores had larger ability bonuses towards strength and dexterity. The subclass she chose was the carnivorous man eating naga, it gave her attack bonuses against humanoids, but she couldn’t eat any other food and had to eat humanoid meat once a day or she would gradually lose health until she did. 

But that was in the game. This was now reality. Could it actually be different? Maybe she could hunt animals for their flesh. That would satisfy her need and would make it so she didn’t have to kill innocents again.

She pulled the fur down to her nose and stared at a book on her shelf. It was a simple brown book with no title or cover art. She bit her lip and tapped her finger to the fur. Should she try it? It’d be beneficial but she’d have to get out from under the fur. She tilted her head to one side then the other before sighing loudly.

Fine, she’d do it.

She gripped the top fur and pushed it down, off her upper body. It bundled up and joined the large pile of fur covering her tail. She tried to push the pile off her tail. It moved a few inches then stopped, the furs tangled around each other and her tail. She groaned loudly and resisted the urge to drop her head back onto her pillow. It’d be so nice to just give up and lay there, but if she hesitated now, she didn’t know when she’d be able to get up. 

Sliding her hand along her tail, she hit the furs tangled around it. She felt around and found the knot. Luckily for her, it wasn’t tangled too badly. Giving a tug here and there, it unraveled and she could wriggle her way out. 

She breathed a sigh of relief and slithered to her shelf. The brown book was on the highest shelf, situated on a titled black pedestal. She picked it up and caressed the leather cover. This was her current research book. Her previous ones lined the shelves below, each having a different color scheme. She used a finger to flip open the cover. She skimmed through the table of contents. The sections were filled with experiments she ran in yggdrasil. They ranged from spells, enemy AI behavior, material affects, and item boost maximizations. Finding the first empty section, she flipped to the page number and brought the book over to her desk.

The chair squeaked annoyingly when she pulled it out. Seemed like it was old. Was it originally low quality? She didn’t think so, the game had just called it a simple chair. She looked it over, the surface glossed from the polished wood. It seemed sturdy enough to sit, but would it be comfortable on her tail?

She eased half her weight into it, creaks emitted from it, but it held. It didn’t feel super uncomfortable, a little foreign, but not bad. The creaking pitched in volume as she dropped the rest of her weight into it, then silence. She held her breath for a second or two, then let it go. Good it held and it didn’t feel half bad now. It could do with more cushioning, but it would do for-

_Snap_

_Bam_

The chair’s legs snapped and splintered in half. Kelpie tried to grab the table, but wasn’t fast enough. She fell backwards and hit her head on the ground. 

…

She laid there, wallowing in self-pity. Her head didn’t hurt at all from the impact, but the stinging of her pride did. Even as a dexterous naga, she was still clumsy as hell. She stared blankly at the ceiling feeling ridiculous. For someone who had just murdered an entire village, she seemed extremely incompetent.  
Giggles poured out of her mouth, turning into full maniacal laughter. God, what the hell was this new life? She was an extremely powerful naga who could break bones with barely any force yet she couldn’t stop herself from falling off a chair.

“Fear me! I’m the all powerful chair breaker! I’ll break all your chairs!” She yelled out, her voice breaking in the middle from laughing.

Her giggles died out and her chest felt hollow with numbness. A small wood chip laid pathetically next to her hand. She picked it up and looked at it. The one side was a lighter color than the other, indicating that it wasn’t part of the wood that got polished. It probably had been a part of the legs. She could relate to the chip. She also looked polished on the outside but was unrefined inside. She flicked the chip roughly against the floor and watched as it lit up in a flame. 

It was a weak little thing, barely glowing orange. If left along, it would run out of fuel and die out. A pitiful and weak existence. She twisted it around and watched as the flame swayed with the motion. It was small, pathetic even, but it was beautiful too. This one flame held onto its short life with such tenacity, it was inspiring . Making a spontaneous decision, she focused her thoughts on her in-game inventory. The scrolling images popped instantly in her mind’s view. Good, she scrolled through several pages until she found what she was looking for.

She reached her arm up and pulled out a glass vial. Nice. Turning to her desk, she pulled out one of the drawers and grabbed an ice pick looking item. It was an engraving tool she used to create her sigils. Mana flowed out of her and into the vial as she inscribed its surface. A triangle with a jagged line similar to a fire marred the vial. It glowed light orange and the vial became warm to the touch. She slipped the burning wood chip into it and sealed it tightly. 

The vial was laid on her desk as she rummaged through the desk for a sturdy string. She knew she had a few somewhere since she had experimented with making her own in-game necklaces. Not this drawer nor this one. Nope. Nope. Nope. The second to last drawer was and there was a single black chain among several gems. Right, that would work much better.

She looked back to the vial and the chip was nothing more than ash staining the bottom, but the flame still burned brightly inside. It shifted around with no form or limitation of fuel. It was beautiful and free. 

Smiling fondly, she attached the vial to the chain and clasped it around her neck. Instantaneously, warmth spread from the vial over her entire body. She gasped happily and giggled, admiring the beauty of her new necklace. She wouldn’t have to worry about being cold anymore.

Kelpie caressed the vial, then grabbed the book. It was still open to the same empty page it had been before. She lifted a quill out of the ink container on the desk and wrote the date and “Food Limitations Experiment” at the top. Good. Blowing air on the page, she returned the quill. When the ink had dried enough, she shut the book and put it under her arm. 

Time to conduct her experiment! 

She opened the wall indent to leave but Goren kneeling with his head bowed in front of the door prevented her from doing so. His voice cracked slightly with shame and regret.

“My lady, I am relieved to see you in better health! I apologize for not coming to your aid sooner. It was my responsibility to protect you and I failed. My inability to prevent your harm is unforgivable. I implore you to give me a fitting punishment!”

“I...what? Hold on. ” Kelpie put two fingers against her temple, feeling exhausted again. “How is this in any way your fault?”

Goren dipped his head further down.

“I was unable to recognize your ailment fast enough, resulting in harm to your person. I should sooner die than allow a supreme being such as yourself to be hurt!”

Kelpie sighed and ran a hand down her face, letting her eyes settle on Goren. He was so quick to put the blame on himself for every little thing, even if it wasn’t his fault. She wanted to lecture him on not beating himself up over things he couldn’t control, but the words ‘supreme being’ stopped her from doing so. Seemed like he really did view her as some kind of goddess. It likely wouldn’t do much to lecture him. Beliefs like those were hard to unteach, so she might as well go along with it. She sighed again and thumped her tail.

“Goren raise your head,” She commanded in a voice that required compliance. He lifted his head with no hesitance.

“There was nothing possible you could have done that would have prevented my ailment. It was not from outside forces but from my own internal complications. I have no use for a bodyguard that wants to get himself killed because of my negative emotions. You are my bodyguard, the Crystalline Angel, and you were made for a purpose. I will not allow you to degrade yourself as such nor die as you please! Your fate is mine to decide!”

Goren bowed his head back down and shouted with complete conviction.

“Yes, My Lady!”

“Now go out and find me these items…”

_____________________

Kelpie stared at the assortment of food on top of the table. There was an apple, cabbage, chicken resembling meat, and villager flesh, all retrieved from the village by Goren. Apparently when he had gone to retrieve them, he had found signs of graves being prepared for the dead. There were no complications in retrieving the goods because of it but it was something to watch out for. Whoever made the graves could start investigating their deaths and that could spell trouble for them.

She frowned and rolled the apple around with the tip of her finger. The thought of taking a bite left a pit of unease in her stomach. Like her body was warning her not to do it. Logically she knew she should listen to it, gut feelings usually end up right, but she wouldn’t be able to forgive herself if she never actually tested different food. She raised the apple to her open mouth. A sharp stab of worry cut through her and the apple dropped out of her hand and bounced off the table onto the ground.

Fuck!

She shoved herself away from the table and paced around it. 

She was currently in the kitchen area. The table was circular and rooted in the center of the room, carved from stone. Four stone stools were spread around it. Cabinets and countertops lined two of the walls a few feet away. The cabinets were empty for lack of necessity but that’d likely change soon. The back of the room had two large refrigerators. The first was empty as well, but the second contained a bunch of different materials, such as slime, various monster meat, potions, frost wood, anything that she thought needed to be kept cool or would make sense in there. It was her experimental refrigerator. 

She stared at that fridge with a thought. Didn’t she also have some elf and dwarf meat in there? Opening it up, she confirmed that yes, she did. She pulled it out and set it on the counter next to the other food. If she was gonna do the experiment, she might as well add in other humanoid meat. 

Ok, time to do this. She was gonna do this!

She closed her eyes tight, grabbed one of the food items, and brought to her mouth before she could think about what it was. Bitterness, sweetness, and sourness all hit her tongue at the same time. It was absolutely foul. She doubled over the side of the table and spit it out into a bucket she had prepared beforehand. Her stomach pulsed with nausea and she dry heaved heavily, the taste clinging to her tongue. 

Ugh awful!

Dropping the piece of food, she reached into her inventory and retrieved the endless pitcher of water. She poured it directly into her mouth, gargling and spitting it out until the foulness left her mouth.

God, that sucked.

She pulled herself upright and stared at the offending food. The apple was laying on its side, a bite missing from it. So she ended up eating the apple first after all. She leaned forward against the table, running a hand through her short hair and writing in the book.

“Apple: Bitter, sour, and sweet foul taste, extreme nausea. Inedible.”

One down, several to go. Her stomach rumbled angrily at the thought. 

Well, at least now she was already sick to her stomach so it couldn’t get worse. 

She ripped a leaf of the cabbage and popped it directly into her mouth. She crushed it under her teeth and just like before, foulness spread across her tongue. The taste no longer had any sweetness but the bitterness and sourness were much stronger. She spit it directly into the bucket and quickly rinsed her mouth out. Her stomach lurched and bile rose in her throat. She tried to stop it by taking deep breaths and sips of water, but couldn’t. She once again puked and dry heaved. Wiping the corner of her mouth, she wrote the results.

“Cabbage: Bitter and sour foul taste, extreme nausea. Inedible”

Now only the meat was left. She collapsed onto one of the stools and let her forehead rest on the table. Closer up now, she could actually smell the different foods. The apple and cabbage smelled as awful as they tasted. The chicken-like meat had a very subtle but not really unpleasant smell, while the scent of the humanoid meat was very enticing. Her mouth watered and she resisted the urge to bite into it. 

She was stronger than this. She would avoid eating that meat as long as she could. The chicken meat was her last hope!

With a shaking hand, she picked up a sliver of the pale pink chicken meat. The smell was stronger, but still not awful. Good, maybe it’d actually work! She bit into it with her back molars. Instantly the subtle taste of the meat burst in her mouth. 

It wasn’t awful! She swallowed it and pumped her fist in excitement. This was great! She wouldn’t have to kill any more humans! She’d have to hunt for animals, but that’d be good for her violent tendencies-

One second she was fine, then the next horrible pain shot through her stomach and her vision darkened. Her breathing got heavier and she crawled her way over to the bucket, purging her entire stomach into it. She let her body collapse to the floor and took deep breaths in and out.

“Hah….hah….hah...fucking....hell.”

Yeah, never doing that again. Her stomach was cramping horribly and almost no strength remained in her body. A defeated sigh escaped her. While this was the expected result, it felt like losing a battle. The hope and joy filling her heart only to be crushed by shame and defeat.

Maybe she should let herself succumb to the inevitable. Was it actually her fault she was in this situation? No, it wasn’t. She didn’t choose to become this. ~~Yes she did.~~ It was necessary for her survival. Could anyone really fault her? Predators weren’t evil because they killed to survive. It was the same for her. She wasn’t evil, ~~nor innocent~~. She was just surviving, ~~enjoying the pain and suffering~~. She could forgive herself for what she would do, ~~but would the dead forgive her?~~

She reached a trembling hand into her inventory and pulled out a blue potion. Giving it a little swirl, she lifted it to her lips and swallowed all the liquid. There was no taste present, only the sensation of liquid. Her body shone with a light blue aura. The pain disappeared from her stomach and her body no longer felt weak. Seemed food poisoning counted as a status effect and could be cured. 

She forced herself up and situated herself onto the coil of her tail. She grabbed the book again and scribbled.

“Animal meat: Subtle, but not unpleasant taste, intense food poisoning. Inedible!!! Do not eat!!!”

A smirk pulled at her mouth as she looked at the words. There wasn’t any point to it, but it made her happy to get a little petty revenge. With a casual swipe and an “oops”, the chicken like meat and produce tumbled off the table into the bucket. Yes, she was very petty.

The humanoid meats were the only things on the table now and they taunted her. Was she ready for this? She knew she could never go back after doing so. The line was laid in the sand and the choice to cross it was in her hands. She wouldn’t be able to use the excuse of not being in her right mind to justify it. She clenched her teeth and stared at them intensely. Did she really have a choice in the long long? She could put it off for now, but she’d have to come back eventually.

A bark of laughter escaped her. She was but a slave to the whims of fate, a toy even. Maybe it wanted her to go crazy and struggle fruitlessly to hold onto her humanity, failing and lamenting until the end of her life. It was so laughable and hateful. She slammed a fist down onto the table and grinned crazily. Alright fate, she had never believed in you anyway. Even if she had only one path forward now, she’d make her own path later. She wouldn’t let herself be strung around like a puppet. 

She dug her nails into the human meat and violently ripped a chunk of it off, swallowing it whole. The taste was mild and delicious. She salivated and ripped into the elf and dwarf meat. The same taste spread across her tongue. She waited a minute and nothing happened. No vomiting or weakness of her limbs. The humanoid meat was safe.

Unhinged laughter burst from her. Of course it was safe!! Why wouldn’t it be?? She sneered widely, a fang digging into her lip causing blood to drip from it. This was her life and she’d choose the direction it took! She licked away the blood and turned to exit the kitchen.

If she was going to control her life, it was time to stop panicking and start acting. 

“Goren!”  
_____________________

“My Lady, We’re about to enter. Are you comfortable?”

“Yesss.”

They were currently in front of the large city Goren had spotted the day before. Up close it looked closer to a fortress than a city. There was a large metal gated entrance with guards inspecting everyone who wanted to get in. She had decided that gathering information would be the move going forward. The more she knew, the better she could path her future.

Kelpie and Goren were in their shapeshifted form since their normal appearance would likely cause pandemonium. As a naga, Kelpie had the racial ability to fully shift into a snake. Her body was a few feet long and had the same black and purple spotted scales. 

Goren also had the racial shapeshifting ability, but it was originally for shifting into a more biblically eldritch form. When creating him, she thought he already had that aesthetic with the many gemstone eyes so she changed his other form to be more human looking. Because he wasn’t a doppelganger, he couldn’t be fully human looking. The wings were gone from his back and his proportions were more balanced but his skin retained the metallic silver. His swirling molten halo became a swirling molten imitation of short hair. His hair ends had the illusion of dripping. He had normal eyes that shined red, but he was still missing a mouth. 

To hide all of these features, Kelpie made him wear his dark grey dress shirt and pants and red vest and gloves that matched his eyes. It was the only outfit she had prepared for him in yggdrasil since his normal form didn’t require clothes. It was too eye-catching for gathering intel though, so he had a long black cloak over it. Lastly, he had a large red scarf wrapped around his head and neck. 

Kelpie was currently curled around his neck under the scarf. Her eyes poked over the top of it enough that she could see her surroundings but not be noticed. She didn’t know if the people would still freak out at her snake form so hiding was the best choice.

Goren began to move towards the gate, causing Kelpie’s head to jerk back. There were several people already lined up for inspection, but they quickly stepped out of the way when Goren walked near. It was a pleasant surprise for her when the fearful retreat didn't send her into another frenzy. She gazed at them. They were dressed similarly to the villagers before, scratchy and worn down clothes. What would it be like if she were to kill them? Would the guilt resurface or would she feel the all encompassing anger she had earlier? Maybe she wouldn't feel anything but the satisfaction of bloodshed. With her random mood swings, she couldn't say anything concrete. 

The guards glared at Goren and began to whisper among each other. Seemed like Goren’s appearance was a little too suspicious. A single guard stopped him with a hand while the others watched from the side.

“Stop, I'll need to see your identification.”

“Don’t have it.”

Goren replied in a clipped tone, his body language reserved and stiff. The guard narrowed his eyes and gripped his spear tighter. A hiss bubbled up in Kelpie's chest. She could already tell this wasn’t gonna end up well.

The guard idly played with his staff and drawled with a suspicious tone. 

“Is that so? Well, you can purchase a new one. We’ll need your information to find the records.”

“Don’t have any money.” 

“Really?” 

The guard looked Goren up and down. 

“That’s unfortunate. Why don’t you follow me and we can sort this out.”

The guard glanced over to his buddies and Kelpie had the feeling that where he was gonna lead them wasn’t somewhere they wanted to go. With a sneer, she lifted her head above the scarf and looked the guard in the eye. Her eyes glowed bright purple and the guard’s face slackened in submissiveness.

“You will let uss enter and give him his identification free of charge. You will vouch for hiss identity and make sure the guardss do not bother uss. You will tell uss any information we want to know. Understood?”

“Yes...”

Kelpie nodded her head with a hiss and ducked back under the scarf. Mind controlling the man was simple enough to do. She should have done this from the start to avoid this hassle and annoyance.

The guard’s body twitched once the eye contact was broken and the mind control was completed. A warm smile graced his lips and he gestured to the side entrance.

“I apologize for the inconvenience. If you follow me, I can make you the identification pass.”

They followed him and ten minutes later they were wandering the streets with an identification pass safely hidden away. They had learned that they were in the city known as E-Rantel, the capital of the Re-Estize kingdom. The same kingdom that shared the mountain range they resided in with the Slane Theocracy. From what she heard, the Slane Theocracy was not a place she wanted to visit ever so she was glad the cave entrance was located in Re-Estize. 

The information gathered from the guard wasn’t bad but there was still so much more to learn. Finding some books would be ideal. She liked having them so she could review information at any time and the information was usually reliable. Plus she liked having more books in her bookshelf. The only problems were that neither her nor Goren could read any of the language and they only had money from Yggdrasil. Plus there didn’t seem to be any book shops anywhere. Was there a shortage of books in this world? Kelpie sighed and snuggled her nose into the scarf, the fabric feeling very soft and comfortable against her face. 

There were several shops around with symbols showing the shops merchandise. Food vendors were all around the plaza and the smells made her want to gag. The clothing and weapons shops were somewhat interesting, but the quality was so bad that she could tell it was inferior with a glance. If the quality was consistent throughout all of the shops, she could probably sell her unused inventions. They were just simple enchanted items but they were infinitely better than those being sold. If she could successfully sell them, they would likely get a large profit. She could then use the money to get materials for new experiments! A new world meant new things to discover! Goren could also buy as many stones as his heart desired! Her tail thumped happily at the thought. 

“Goren! Go to that weapons shop! I want to try selling something.”

Goren nodded and walked to it. The shop door opened with a ring of a bell. The inside was dim and smelled heavily of iron. Weapons of all kinds lined the walls such as spears, swords, and bows. In a corner were armors of leather, chainmail, and iron. Most were breastplates and helmets, but there some greaves and gauntlets. For being of inferior quality, the weapons and armors did have good craftsmanship. 

A gruff muscled man at the counter eyed Goren. There was a calculating glint in his eyes like he was analyzing Goren. His head moved up and down, scanning Goren's body, but there was no clue about what he had concluded from the analysis. The man had neither a disappointed or impressed look.

“What can I help you with today?”

Goren didn’t say a word and slipped his hand under his scarf to where Kelpie was hiding. Using her tail, she slipped it into the dark abyss of her inventory and pulled out a simple iron pendant with a defensive enchantment. Anyone who wore this would have the same defense as if they were wearing mithril armor. The weight and noise of the armor would be non-existent. She had created this when her levels were in the mid 60s. There were several metals in Yggdrasil that could have been used for better armor, but her level prevented her from using them. She created this pendant through an experiment to lessen the burden of heavy armor. After several failed attempts and the sacrifice of her own mithril armor, it had came into existence. But it's creation gave her enough experience points to increase her level, so it sat unused in her inventory until now.

She dropped the pendant into Goren’s hand. Goren handed it to the salesman and her tongue flicked out subconsciously. It wasn’t one of her best or most effective works but it was still better than anything in the shop. She would not allow it to be insulted. The man would regret it if he did.

“Hmm, a pendant? Sorry to say this is a weapons store. We don’t deal with luxury items. You could take this to the jewelry shop across the street, but I can’t accept it.”

Kelpie rolled her eyes. Lazy bastard. He couldn't be bothered to check the item. If he found a dirty wooden sword capable of slashing a mountain, he'd be dumb enough to burn it as firewood.

Goren stared the man down for several seconds, his voice frigid and intimidating.

“This is the right place.”

The man stared at Goren for a minute before sighing.

“Alright fine. Let me check it then.” 

“[ Appraisal ]”

His eyes glowed bright blue.

“....What the hell? This can’t be right.”

“[ Appraisal ]”

A moment passed in silence, then the man’s head whipped up desperately to question Goren.

“Where?! Where did you get this??? I’ve never seen anything like this before!! This is amazing!!! This could easily boost someone up three ranks. I want, no, need to know how this was made! Is the base material a crucial component or could it be substituted? I can feel a large amount of mana from it…"

The man lost himself in his musing, flipping the pendant over and analyzing its every surface. Straightening back up with a smile, he placed the pendant on the table and turned back to Goren. His attitude changed from flippant to serious.

“I don’t have enough money to buy this, but I could introduce you to someone who could.”

He whispered into his fist excitedly.

“Kate is never gonna believe this!”

Goren grabbed the pendant and tilted his head down to where Kelpie was, asking silently for permission. She nodded her head with a quiet hiss and Goren nodded his own head to the salesman.

Disgust filled her. She really did not like the man. He had been so rude and dismissive at first then switched his personality completely around without a single apology. She'd make sure to never see him again after the transaction.

The man clapped his hands together happily and grinned.

“Excellent! I’ll take you there now!”

He led them to a large white building. There were two shields with crossed swords on the surface imprinted on each side of the entrance. Above it was a mural of a large tree with strong roots. The inside of the building was dim just like the store. The walls were a dark stone. There were notice boards along the wall and a dark oak staircase leading upstairs. He ushered them to a counter where a receptionist was waiting with a smile. When the woman saw him, her smile became more forced and her tone was flat.

“Mr. Roath, how nice of you to come see us again. Are you having another sale or are you here to offer a weapons demonstration?”

“No, this is something much grander! Take a look!”

He put his hand behind his hand and wiggled his fingers, indicating to hand over the item. Goren’s body tensed at the casual disrespect, but handed the pendant over as requested. His eyes burned into the back of the man's head. The salesman with pompous cockiness wiggled the pendant in front of the receptionist’s eye. She watched it for a moment then snapped it out of his grip with a glare and casually looked it over. Kelpie let out a loud hiss and clamped it down after noticing. 

The urge to bite the man was immense. He was treating the pendant like it was a simple toy! Her fangs began to protrude out of her mouth. How nice would it feel to watch him slowly suffer and die from her venom? 

The man continued with his irritating voice.

“You’ll be amazed by it! I guarantee it!”

He threw his arms out to the side to emphasize his point. The woman continued staring flatly at him and boredly swung the pendant around.

“Is this another failed attempt at flirting? I’ve already told you I'm not interested."

“No no no, I swear this is actually business! Though if jewelry is what you like, I can get you some.”

He punctuated his sentence with a wink. His voice was slimy and sleazy sounding. Surely, she could get rid of him later and no one would care right?

“But no, check it out!”

The receptionist heaved a defeated sigh and cast analysis. Her expression shifted quickly from bored to surprised to disbelief, then finally amazement.

“Amazing! This could be a new national treasure! Where did you get this? Was a new ruin found? The items could vastly increase the kingdom’s security! The katze plain spawns have been giving us more trouble. The items could help immensely. If you give us the location, we will compensate you properly.”

“Nah, only the item. What’s the-”

Fed up with the useless conversation, Goren shoved the man aside and addressed the woman.

“Enough. What will you pay for it?”

The receptionist, noticing him for the first time, gave him a dubious glance and flicked her hand.

“I can only discuss that with the item’s owner. You will have to wait until we’ve finished our business.”

Goren twisted his body to the impudent man and glared, intimidating him into rectifying the situation. But the man grinned slyly and taunted.

“Yeah, wait your turn. I’m finishing up my business. Some people don't have any manners you know?”

Kelpie and Goren's bodies stilled in complete rage. Kelpie’s fangs fully extended and she bit into the scarf to prevent herself from hissing. Her venom staining a patch. Goren’s fists clenched and he stomped forward, his arm reaching for the neck of the insolent man.

“Don’t.”

The single word halting his arm, making him step back and relax his body. Causing a scene now would be satisfying but ultimately dumb. The ability to come back and trade without hassle was something she wanted to maintain. If they went wild, there was no telling if they could come back. It sucked but the best choice was to let the bastard go for now. They had gotten the information she wanted and knew where to sell items now. They could come back later to trade by themselves. 

This was a good lesson for the future. Both her and Goren were powerful but they could be tricked just as any other. 

The difference between them and the humans around them though was they could easily get their revenge. The fool would get his just desserts soon enough. Her mouth watered at the thought. Yes, she would make him suffer for this slight. Maybe she'd chase him around the forest. It'd satiate her desire for revenge and violence at the same time.

~~But did he deserve to suffer for just this?~~

With a tap of her tail, Goren turned around and walked out. They brushed past a large man in full black plate mail armor and a beautiful black haired mage, holding a request paper detailing a job investigating the massacre of a nearby village.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! If i had a title for this chapter, I'd call it the stages of grief. I honestly wasn't sure if the last section turned out well, but I heard it did, soo... 
> 
> Anyway, im always open to positive feedback and any spelling or grammar fixes!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, here I am with another chapter! I have to say I spent so much time on the wikis just to get this chapter done. I hope you guys appreciate my effort XD
> 
> Anyway enjoy!

Kelpie chilled on a long branch, her tail coiled tightly around it and her upper body leaning against the tree trunk. Below her, Goren was digging out sections of dirt. He had a pouch in his hand that he’d pull a white crystal from and drop it into the hole to bury. This was the preparations for extending her alarm network. She had already set up anti-scouting enchantments and magic traps, so this was the next step for their security. Each crystal had an alarm spell enchanted on it. The goal was to have their security network extended about a kilometer away from the cave. She didn’t think anything in the forest was strong enough to threaten them since Goren had already defeated any strong creatures, but having it there would make her more comfortable. Goren was taking care of it because of his miner class. It sped up the process considerably and it would probably be done within the next hour or two. She had tried to help but from his vehement refusals, she decided to just sit back and let him do it himself. 

She let her eyes drift away from him to the small leather bag in her hand. It had a decent weight to it. She shook it slightly and it jingled as the items inside collided with each other. The drawstrings fell away limply with a light tug. Inside were crudely made coins of different sizes and metals. Their circular shape was bent and misshapen in many places and had no consistency. Almost as if the coins were meant to be a child’s toy instead of currency. But no, it was the real thing. She knew because Goren had stolen it from the insolent man. 

They had kidnapped him late last night when he had been locking up his shop. It was very amusing hearing his smug and cocky voice warp with pain and fear when Goren beat him into unconsciousness. The man was currently locked up inside one of the trap rooms. She didn’t really know which one since she left it to Goren in fear of another frenzy. He was given permission to improve the desired room in any way he wanted, with the stipulation that the man be alive at the end of it. It was obvious that Goren had done so because if she listened closely, she could hear the faintest agonizing screams in the wind. Her mouth watered when a particularly pain filled scream echoed. The snake in her wondered what he’d taste like after the torture? Would the flavor be intensified by his terror? Would the meat be more tender?

She ground her teeth together with a shake of her head. No, bad! This was not the time for that!

The coins in the bag clinked together as she moved. She idly grabbed one of the largest. It was very shiny and bright silver. One side had a dragon’s head on it, while the other had two clashing swords and an axe. From the size, it was probably the highest valued coin of the rest. The metal didn’t feel that strong though. If she squeezed hard enough, it’d probably break in half. She knocked the knuckles of her hand on the bark of the tree to get Goren’s attention, then tossed the coin down to him.

“Goren, what metal is that made of? It's different from the other silver colored coins, but I can’t figure it out.”

The coin landed with a twirl on top of his palm. Taking it between his fingers, he examined it closely and scrapped a corner of it.

“It appears to be made of Platinum, My Lady.”

He moved his arm to throw the coin back to her but she waved her hand in a stop motion. 

“Keep it. In the future, i’m gonna have you go back to the city to act as a merchant. It’d be better for you to have the money. Here.” 

She pulled the drawstrings tight and tied them into a bow before tossing the entire bag down to him.

“The rest of them. Learn what the values of them are the next time you are in the city.”

Goren gave a curt nod, put the pouch on his waist, and went back to digging. She leaned back against the tree and crossed her arms loosely. The repetitive actions of him digging and planting, digging and planting were interesting for her to watch. What made Goren so invested in being ordered around like a servant? She had given it a lot of thought these past few days, but could never get a satisfying answer. He had mentioned her being some kind of “supreme being”. Did he truly think of her as superior? If he did, where had it come from? 

It’d barely been three days in this new world and she had learned much more about the world than she had about Goren. Sure, she had created him, but him as an NPC was very different from the being below. How could a single programmed personality account for him as a three dimensional person? Could she for sure say she knew everything about him? What intricacies of him as a living being existed besides the ones she knew? They would be stuck together for who knew how long, she should actually try to learn more about him as a person. 

Her hand sunk into the abyss that was her inventory and pulled out a bright purple Amethyst that flickered and glowed. The gem was extremely cold to the touch and sapped the warmth from her fingers. It was a Spectral Amethyst. An extremely rare gem drop that could be added to armor and weapons to give them “soul damaging” attack bonuses. But that was really just an edgy description of the effect. What would really happen was the enemy would get a random curse for a variable amount of time. The rarity and nature of the item were so valuable that it could be sold for an insane amount of in game currency and a decent amount of real money. It was so rare that she had only found it three times in all of her Yggdrasil life. She had sold the first one for a motherlode of gold and kept the other two for future uses. Thinking back to her habits in game, she was never going to use it and would only hoard it. 

She played with the gem, bouncing it up and down in her hand, as she addressed Goren.

“I didn’t ask this before, but why do you consider me a supreme being?”

The sudden question caused the shovel to slip from Goren’s grip and fall to the ground. There was a moment of pause as he turned to face her and bow.

“You are the one who created me and brought me to life. Only a supreme being is capable of such a thing.”

She peered off to the side and hummed, still twiddling the gem in her hand.

“I guess I can see that viewpoint. But do you really not feel any doubt? You’ve seen me at my most vulnerable. I’m certainly not the all powerful and all knowing type. If you think about it, we’re not even that different from each other.”

Goren tilted his head to the side as if pondering it.

“If I may be so bold, I have no right to doubt you. How can someone like me, a creation made by your hands, begin to understand someone as lofty as you? As you’ve said before my existence is for you and you alone.”

Kelpie looked into his eyes. They were unwavering and shone with absolute conviction. So that's what it had been about. It wasn't wrong that she had created him, but it still wasn’t as amazing as he thought. With a few lines of code, data crystals, and items, he had been born. But she couldn’t really explain that to him in good conscience. There was really no other option than to roll with being the goddess he thought she was. With a sigh, she straightened her back and held her head high.

“Alright, I understand. You’ve certainly shown your conviction. I’m happy to have you as my bodyguard, so as reward for your loyalty and hard work, I'm giving you this.”

She held out her hand with her palm down and dropped the Spectral Amethyst. His eyes lit up excitedly as he scrambled to catch it. The sight made her smile, so he still liked gems. That was good to know. The gem was tilted towards the sun so he could admire the shine and cut of it when his happy face suddenly contorted into a frown. He lifted his head to say something but her words cut him off.

“Don’t say you are not worthy. I’m giving it to you because I deemed it fitting to give you.”

Goren didn’t have a mouth and therefore couldn’t smile, but if he did, she imagined he’d have a giant grin on his face. He was radiating pure happiness and pride. Popping off one of the amethysts on his side, he slid the spectral amethyst into the slot. Purple light flashed from it and it melded perfectly into his body. He caressed it lightly with one hand.

“Thank you My Lady, I will treasure it!”

She gave a small nod and rested her head against the bark. A tide of drowsiness washed over her so she closed her eyes for a nap and fell asleep to the soothing sounds of Goren resuming his digging .

________________

“Momon-san, may I ask why are we entering into this forest?”

The large imposing figure of a pitch black armor wearing warrior stood in front of the forest entrance with his arms crossed. Next to him was a beautiful black haired woman with a brown cloak covering her body. Both had shiny Adamantite plates hanging from their necks.

“Ah that’s right, you weren't present at the briefing. We were asked to investigate the creature behind the deaths of a whole village. It was a one sided slaughter with several bodies ripped apart, seemingly for no reason except for fun. The guild believes the wise king of the forest has some sort of twin and, since I tamed Hamsuke, has tasked us with taking this one down as well.”

“Understood! Though is that likely? I find it hard to believe there would be a similar creature so close and it not be known.”

Ainz nodded his head and turned to her.

“I have similar thoughts. Hamsuke, being as intent on finding a mate as she is, wouldn’t miss a being like her that is just one forest away. But even if she had, they would have similar fame. We would hear stories of another “Wise King of the Forest”. Plus Hamsuke is just territorial, not blood thirsty. This creature would be the same way due to species behavior. This has to be a different beast that has settled into new territory.”

Nabe nodded her head with an excited expression that said as expected of you. 

“So then will Aura-sama be joining us again?”

“Yup Yup! Here I am~”

The cheerful voice of Aura drifted down from a tree. The heterochromia dark elf hung upside down with her legs bent across a branch. She gave a victory sign to an unphased Nabe and smiled cheerfully.

“I didn’t scare you this time Naberal! Hehe.”

Aura lifted her legs and dropped. Moments before she hit the ground, she twisted her body and landed perfectly on her feet. 

“No you didn’t, thank you for that Aura-sama.”

Aura beamed and gave a thumbs up. She then twirled to face Ainz, waiting for orders. Reaching out his hand, he ruffled Aura’s hair. An almost unnoticeable look of jealousy crossed Naberal’s face, but vanished quickly. Pulling his hand back, Ainz addressed Aura.

“Thank you for coming. What were you able to find out?”

Aura blushed and giggled.

“Yes! I’ve scanned the forest and found several animals around but none that match what you’re looking for. There’s a section near the mountains where I was unable to see with my skill. I believe that the beast will be there but we’ll need to investigate it in person.”

Ainz rubbed his chin in thought.

“I see. Lead the way, but be cautious and discreet.”

Aura nodded and strolled into the forest with her hands clasped behind her head. Ainz and Naberal trailed closely after her. 

Ainz kept his eyes, well non-existent eyes, peeled on his surroundings. Nothing appeared to be out of the ordinary. It was just normal trees and foliage, but he couldn’t help but feel the suffocating weight of suspense. He was apprehensive about Aura being unable to investigate the area. As a level 100 NPC, she was vastly more powerful than any creature or person he had encountered so far in this new world. A ranger of her caliber should be able to see past any concealment a common or even above average adventurer could create. Was this a hidden power of the new world or did it have something to do with Yggdrasil? What if the reason she couldn’t see was related to the people who had brainwashed Shalltear? 

The thought of retreating quickly entered his mind. Afterall, it’d be hypocritical for him to continue on blind and unprepared after he had lectured Narberal on the same thing previously. 

Ainz sighed and slid his swords from their sheathes. He couldn’t really do so though. It was a request from the adventurer’s guild, so he was limited in the actions he could take. If it was possible, he’d prefer to drop Perfect Warrior and proceed as a magic caster, but there he wasn’t prepared to risk having his identity as Momon revealed so soon.

“Aura, what else can you tell me? Even the smallest of details could prove useful.”

“Hmm~ Well, I noticed that all of the animals in the forest seem to largely avoid where we’re headed. It's like a powerful and highly territorial beast lives there. I’ve seen that several of the more powerful animals had severe injuries. I assume that whatever resides where we’re going just recently fought with them and obtained the territory. I couldn’t find any tracks or feeding indicators, so I have no clue about what it is. It’d be interesting if it was an undiscovered beast! Ainz-sama, if it is not necessary for your plans, could I have it afterwards?”

Aura’s eyes shined brightly and resembled puppy eyes. It wasn’t quite a pout but it was close enough to affect Ainz.

“Ahem, If it is not useful, sure.”

Aura grinned and began to hum, internally thinking about what kind of creature she hoped it’d be. 

Ainz gazed at her carefree back. Bukubukuchagama had designed her to be very cheerful and laidback. It showed well in her actions. Was it her endearingness as a child or her personality that made him want to spoil her? He viewed all the guardians as his children, but he felt especially protective towards Aura and Mare. But they viewed him as a superior so would him acting as such cause issues in the future? How should one act as a father and a boss anyway? The life of a superior was full of-

**_Boom_ **

The ground under Aura exploded in fire, dirt and root debri flying in every direction. The force threw her into the air, sending her flying. She reacted quickly, her whip splitting the air and attaching to a tree branch.The forward momentum allowed her to swing around the branch until she had slowed enough to drop down to her feet. 

Nabe shifted in front of Ainz, her arm outstretched and glowing blue ready to attack. Ainz felt panic shoot through him as he watched the events unfold in front of him.

“Aura! Are you alright?!”

Aura made a show of brushing the dirt and soot away from her clothes. There were no visible injuries or blood at all. The impact had left her unharmed.

“I’m fine, no damage at all!”

The panic ebbed away into relief then into nothing as Ainz’s emotional suppression kicked in. He took a battle stance, his swords raised and ready to strike, and scanned the area. But only the greenery surrounded them.

“Ainz-sama, we weren’t attacked. I tripped an Explosive Land Mine.”

“What? But how? You should be able to detect these types of traps with ease.”

Aura approached the hole the explosion had left and examined it. Now that the trap had activated, she could feel the magical residue left behind of it.

“I don’t know. I was using my detection skills but wasn’t able to notice it.”

Aura ran her hand along the hole and analyzed the dirt. The casual cheerfulness from before was replaced by a heavy seriousness. Even though Aura did not have trap detection skills, she should still have been able to identify traps of a certain level. There were many things that Ainz was certain of and one of them was that so far they had not directly encountered anyone that was capable of rivaling the guardians. There was something of considerable strength in these woods for sure. Forget the adventurer’s guild for now. He’d come up with an excuse for them later. It was too dangerous for them to stay here with their current attack force.

“Aura! Nabe! We’re falling back! There are too many unknowns here for us to continue.”

Ainz turned to retreat towards the entrance of the forest, but a chain of screaming alarms and the panicked voice of Narberal stopped him.

“Ainz-sama! We’ve tripped an alarm.”

“Shit! Shit! Shit! Prepare for an attack!” 

All three of them raised their weapons and waited for the incoming enemy. A beat then two went by with nothing until-

_Shriek_

An invisible blade scratched against the surface of Ainz’s shoulder, leaving a long gouge on its surface. Ainz slashed down in front of him and only sliced through the air. 

_Shriek_

_**Boom** _

The blade cut across his back, a large scratch left in its place. Dirt flew through the air as the area behind Ainz blew up in smoke as a spell hit nothing. Narberal’s arm was outstretched from casting and the blade sliced across her arm, causing blood to well up.

“Use detection magic!”

Ainz screamed to Narberal, tensing his body in preparation for another attack. She nodded and quickly cast it, but nothing changed. The enemy remained undetectable.

“I can’t see it! It’s concealment is more powerful than my detection!”

“Protect Ainz-sama!”

Yelled Aura, rushing to him with her whip in her hand. She slashed horizontally in an arc and felt an impact on the end. The whip swung outward once more, but hit nothing. Slight pain erupted from her back as the blade sliced across her armor, but the dragon scales integrity held, causing no direct damage. A slight breeze brushed against her side and she swung her leg towards it. Her hit connected to something and it flew into a tree, wood chips flying everywhere. The tree groaned and snapped, falling over with a loud impact. Combining their attacks, Aura and Nabe struck but they only hit the fallen tree. The invisible enemy had recovered quickly. 

Both focused their hearing on the surroundings, but they could only hear the ambience of the forest. Suddenly, both felt the gash of the blade slicing their respective shoulders. Narberal drew her sword and slashed behind her but missed once again.

“There’s more than one!”

Aura exclaimed, switching out her whip for her bow. She drew the string and, using her targeting skill, let it go. The arrow shot straight out at lightning speed until it suddenly curved, chasing the enemy. It pierced into the air and stayed lodged in the enemy’s body. The arrow bobbed as the enemy tried to pull it out, but it was impaled too deeply in its body.

“There’s one!” 

“Good, distract the other one too!!”

Ainz yelled to them, attempting to undo Perfect Warrior. The battle was too disadvantageous for them at the moment. If they just had assassins, Solution or Cz, here the battle would be different. He could hear the voices of Albedo and Demiurge in his head telling him to retreat for now but he ignored them. He couldn’t bear to leave the Aura and Naberal behind. If he could just switch back to being a magic caster and use Arcane Vision, the tides would be turned.

The air with the lodged arrow was barraged with lightning as Narberal focused her attacks. The enemy lit up bright blue as the lightning struck them and coursed through their body. Aura loosed another arrow and it zoomed forward. The two ends stopped and fell limply to the ground as it was sliced cleanly in half. The arrows were continually shot and cut as they got closer and closer to where Ainz was standing. She shot one last arrow and, as she watched it get slashed through, lashed her whip forward, wrapping tightly around the torso of the enemy.

Lightning surged through the body of the arrow impaled being one last time as the invisibility shorted out and its body flashed into view. The silver and gem filled being only stayed visible for a second, then evaporated in black smoke.

Ainz was a second away from dropping Perfect Warrior a strong force slammed into the side of his body. He slid back a few meters, his feet digging into the ground and sending dirt and grass flying as he prevented himself from going airborne. 

Instantaneously, a barrage of inky black arrows rained down from the sky. They slammed heavy into all three of them. Aura gripped her whip tightly, not willing to let the enemy free. Blood poured down the side of her head from her injuries. Narberal forced herself through the arrow storm to Ainz and cast Shield Wall above him. The air above them lit up with a cyan wall that was textured like a turtle’s shell. Time seemed to slow for Ainz as he hurried himself to drop perfect warrior. 

Tick, the arrows colliding heavily against the shield.

Tock, the blood dripping down both Aura and Narberal’s body. 

Tick, the enemy breaking free from its confinement. 

Tock, Perfect Warrior finally disappearing and revealing his skeletal form.

Tick, the chaos halting immediately.

Arrows no longer fell from the sky and the invisible being was no longer attacking either. For a moment, he wondered if time had actually stopped, but the sounds of Aura’s and Narberal’s heavy breathing dispelled that thought. What happened? He hadn’t done anything yet. 

The enemy dropped his Perfect Unknowable and revealed his silver and gem laden angelic body. Aura and Narberal tightened their grip on their weapons with a grimace as Ainz prepared a spell. For a minute, there was nothing except for the thick tension bearing down on them all. The sudden and unexpected voice of the angel broke the silence.

“Understood, My lady.”

The angel leaned forward to give them a bow.

“I apologize for attacking you. I was unaware of your true identity. If you allow me, I can heal your injuries.”

Aura and Narberal stared at him in confusion before turning to Ainz for guidance. He paused to think, but eventually gave them a small nod. They all watched vigilantly as the angel stepped forward and cast healing on them. Their wounds stitched themselves together instantly and the blood disappeared in a red mist. So the angel hadn’t been lying. What was it thinking? Did it actually know about their identity? Or was it some kind of feint to get their guards down?

“My lady would like to meet you. If you would follow me to meet her, please. She said you are welcome to refuse, but she hopes that you don’t.”

My lady? Could it be? Was it possible that one of his guildmates had made it here as well? His undead heart jolted with happiness. Bukubukuchagama, Yamaiko, Ankoro Mocchi Mochi, Zoba, any of them being here would be amazing.

Ainz smiled internally and nodded to the angel.

“I’d like to meet her as well.”

________________________

Kelpie was jolted awake by the screaming alarm of the crystals. The sudden movement caused her balance to break and she slipped off the tree. Her tail was still firmly wrapped around the branch so she hung pathetically upside down. Looking around, Goren was nowhere in her sight. He had probably already finished up the setup, evidenced by the racket coming from the crystals, and gone to investigate who had tripped the alarms. She forced her upper body up and grabbed the branch. Letting her tail slacken from the branch she dropped to the ground. She landed easily, a small thud resulting from the impact, and brushed her hands off. The alarm didn’t worry her too much since there were still animals roaming around the forest. Any of them could have caused an unexpected triggering. Eventually, she would understand the animals’ habits and routines and would be able to configure the alarms to ignore them.

She rolled her shoulders back and sighed when they gave a satisfying crack. The nap had been a much needed moment of peace and relaxation, but it hadn’t been as comfortable as it could have been. Maybe she should create some kind of tree hammock for herself. She could even experiment with the various materials she had to discover some new interesting effects. Maybe some kind of sleeping enchantment to make napping easier? 

She pulled her research book from her inventory and started jotting various ideas down. When Goren got back, she would ask his advice on them. Perhaps some of the animals in the forest would have some good fur to use as well. She turned her back to go to the cave, still brainstorming ideas, when a distant crack and crash gave her pause. It was the sound of a tree being knocked to the ground violently. 

She whipped around and stared into the forest. That wasn’t a natural sound for a sunny day. Was something fighting currently? She closed her eyes and listened closely. Faintly, she could hear the clashes of metal on metal. 

…

Shit! 

Some people were fighting and she had a feeling Goren was one of them. She rushed back to the tree and scaled to the top.

“[ Sky Eye ]”

She closed her eyes and when she opened them, she could see the bird’s eye view of the forest. At first she could only see the green tops of trees, but looking around, she was able to find the fight. Three people fighting against an invisible foe. It didn’t take much for her to realize the foe was Goren fighting against the intruders. The two not in armor seemed slightly familiar to her, but the memory of them danced on the edge of her memory. She did not try too hard to remember though. Right now, they were intruders and needed to be taken care of. 

Kelpie watched as Goren fought on. So far, he had the advantage of being undetectable and having his shadow clone. She found it interesting to see him fight since she had never had the chance in Yggdrasil. He had good tactics and was able to avoid attacks and deal damage well, but that was as expected. He was proficient in both the assassin and ninja class. Only high level players could actually see through his invisibility. 

She frowned when an arrow impaled one of them. She didn’t know if it was Goren or the clone, but she hoped it was the clone. When the dark elf wrapped its whip around the other, she slid her bow from her inventory. It was a blue and purple gradient longbow with inwardly curving long black spikes with small purples stars on the surface. She readied her shot at the elf, but paused when she noticed the large warrior. He was standing completely still, not even reacting to the sliced through arrows getting closer and closer to him.

What was he up to? Probably not something she wanted him to do. She shifted her aim over and let loose the inky black swirling arrow. It cut through the air and slammed into the warrior, sending him skidding across the ground. Her mouth quirked up into a smile. Good. She pulled the golden string taut, the arrow ready to fly.

“[ Arrow Barrage ]”

Arrow after arrow appeared in front of the bow, lined in rows, until there were around twenty of them. Her arms trembled as she pulled the string back another inch and then let go. The arrows flew forward, whistling through the air, towards the group. Without waiting for the first barrage to hit, she kept shooting. 

The mage set up a shield and she clicked her tongue in annoyance. It was a good move, annoying but good. She forced her arm to release the arrows faster and faster. Her heartbeat synced in time with her shots as she was unable to pierce the shield.

“Fuck, [ Comet Blast ]”

The arrow in her string glowed icy blue and emitted a cold mist. She pulled the string back tight, letting the arrow grow larger and larger until the tip formed a sharp icicle tip. 

One second, she took a deep breath.

Two seconds, her body tensed, ready to release the arrow.

Three seconds, the warriors armor disappeared, revealing an imposing skeletal mage.

Four seconds, the string slipped from her hand, the arrow barreling into a random tree.

Her breath caught in her throat as she stared at the figure. 

It was Momonga…

Momonga!

A laugh escaped her. He was here! He had been transported here as well! 

Realizing the current situation and acting quickly, she sent a message to Goren.

“Goren! Stop attacking and reveal yourself! He is a friend of mine.”

“Understood, My Lady.”

The return message came immediately and she could see Goren following her orders and healing the two women. She remembered now. They were Narberal Gamma and Aura Bella Fiora from the guild of Ainz Ooal Gown. Seemed like Momonga had been transported with his base and NPCs too. She smiled widely at the thought. Her and Goren wouldn’t be alone anymore.

“I’d like you to escort them to me, but respect their answer if they say no.”

She waited with bated breath as Goren relayed her request. The moment Momonga nodded, she twirled around in happiness, her tail thumping the branch excitedly. She jumped off the tree and stood by the entrance of the cave for when they would arrive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys enjoyed! I always appreciate positive feedback on my chapter!
> 
> Next chapter may be delayed due to me being busy with work, but i'm gonna do my best to work on it when i can!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back! It's pretty interesting to see how much harder writing is after two weeks of not doing so XD
> 
> Welcome back to the story and I hope you all enjoy!

Ainz followed the angel leading them through the forest. The angel walked very stiffly almost like a robot. Interesting. The archangel of flames he was used to never walked. They always floated or flew through the air. They were also not covered in many different colored gems or had the assassin and ninja classes. The angel race was rather varied however. Victim was an angel and looked like an unborn fetus. Luci★Fer had the appearance of a decaying doll. Was the difference customization? The angel had to be a player’s customized NPC. After all, there were almost no players from Yggdrasil that didn’t know of the guild. Ainz kept the hope in his heart that the player was one of his old guildmates. Out of the three female guildmates, Ankoro Mocchi Mochi was the most likely. She had the tendency to create eccentric NPCs. It wasn’t too much of a stretch to assume that she had created this angel. There were very obvious contradictions but he stubbornly refused to pay them attention. It was Ankoro. It had to be. He would see her. 

Ainz shifted his attention from his thoughts to Narberal and Aura when they appeared next to him. They glared daggers at the angel’s back. Narberal inconspicuously leaned slightly closer to him and whispered.

“Momon-san, should we take the chance to attack now that his guard is down?”

“Call me Ainz. I’ve already dropped my disguise so there is no need to call me Momon. And no attacking. There’s no need to restart the hostilities.”

Narberal nodded and silently retook her place behind him, but Aura was not as easily convinced. Her voice trembled with anger.

“Ainz-sama! Shouldn’t we punish him for trying to hurt you? Anyone who attempts such should be given the worst possible punishment!” 

She emphasized her last words by raising her hand and clenching it like she was crushing him in the palm of her hand. Ainz softly laughed and reached his hand out to pet her head.

“Your concern is appreciated Aura, but it’ll benefit us more if we just wait to meet his ‘lady’. Be patient.”

Aura reluctantly conceded and joined Narberal behind him, still staring intently at the angel’s back. She didn’t quite pout but the discomfort of the situation was very evident on her face. It didn’t matter to him though. He wasn’t going to let anything sabotage the reunion with his friend. 

The anticipation and excitement was slowly killing him. He had been in this new world for a while now and, while he enjoyed being with the NPCs, he dearly missed the company of his guildmates. It had been so long since he had seen them. It was a lucky enough occurrence to have met with Herohero before the shutdown. Now it was basically a miracle to meet one of his friends again. 

Ainz smiled internally, but there was a single thought bearing down on his good mood. What would happen once Ankoro found out about the things Nazarick had done? With her positive karma, would she start to hate him? He didn’t want that and would avoid it with all his might. If giving up everything Nazarick had worked for until now was the solution, he’d do so without any hesitation. But would that even be enough? What if she didn’t forgive him? What would happen if she looked at him as a monster? How would the guardians react to that? Would it split Nazarick?

The image of a clearing about twelve feet in front of him gave him a distraction. He hurried his steps, for once not worrying about the NPCs’ image of him. Even if Aura and Narberal thought less of him for his haste, he wouldn’t care. What mattered was seeing his friend again. Whatever happened, he would work through it with Ankoro and they would be comrades once again. He passed the angel easily. The sounds of Aura and Narberal following behind him were audible, but he didn’t give it any notice. This was it! This was the moment he would no longer be alone. The moment that would make everything ok. The moment that would cure his worries. The moment that would give him hope for the future and the rise of the guild of Ainz Ooal Gown.

The clearing was within a few feet now and a figure shrouded by the bushes was visible. He was so close! The leaves parted easily with a wave of his hand and the figure became clear.

“Momonga!”

A figure that was not Ankoro Mocchi Mochi yelled out with a voice that was also not Ankoro’s. Ainz froze in place staring at the figure.

Not Ankoro.

Not Ankoro.

The sounds around him deafened leaving only the barest whisper of the wind. Devastation, anger, sadness, swirled inside him like a storm, then nothing... His emotion suppression crushed his emotions into dust, leaving him feeling like an empty husk and, for once it felt like a blessing.

________________

“Momonga!”

Kelpie couldn’t help herself when Momonga revealed himself. All the excitement and suspense exploded out of her in the form of a shout. He was here! He was actually here! It was almost too good to be true! She snickered at him freezing the moment he saw her. She had done the exact same thing, but it was still amusing to see him like that. What she wouldn’t give to know what he was thinking at that moment. He was probably just as excited as her since they both found a friend in this new world.

Narberal, aura, then Goren appeared a few moments after Momonga. It was so cool to see Naberal and Aura in person! She wondered if this was what people felt like seeing their friends’s kids all grown up. It wasn't that long ago she had seen them in Yggdrasil. She glanced over to Goren to gauge his impression of them, but his expression was just as stoic as always. Probably should have expected that from someone with stationary facial features and no mouth. Hopefully in time they would become amiable with each other if not friends.

She looked back to Momonga but he was still frozen in place. Seems like the surprise had been bigger than expected. She should break him out of his stupor. With a chuckle she slithered over to him and reached out to touch his shoulder. 

**Boom**

Aura’s whip slammed into the ground where Kelpie had just jumped away from.

_Clash_

Goren slashed his dagger towards Aura and was parried by Narberal’s sword. All three of them stayed a safe distance away with their weapons drawn crouched in an attack stance. Aura snapped her whip taut threateningly and shouted.

“How dare you try to touch him?!”

Kelpie lazily stared at Aura. It seemed like Aura didn’t remember her, a little disappointing. It had just been a quick meeting in Yggdrasil though, so it made sense. She waved at Goren.

“Stand down, this is all a misunderstanding.” 

He glanced between her and the two NPCs, calculating the risk of following her orders. After a moment, he dropped his battle stance and went to Kelpie’s side, keeping his eyes on the two. Kelpie smiled and nodded towards him in satisfaction, then turned her attention back to Aura. She got as close as Aura allowed, which was a few feet, and lifted her hands to show she was unarmed.

“I’m a friend of Momonga and Zoba. I met you and your brother a while ago. I tried to touch him because he seemed very shocked by my appearance.”

Aura stared at her blankly then blinked her eyes and relaxed the grip on her whip for a second, before tightening it and narrowing her eyes.

“You could be lying to us! You could have done something to him to cause this!”

Kelpie couldn’t help but smile at her. She always had a fondness for kids and Aura was just super adorable.

“Ok why don’t you ask him yourself? I promise I didn’t do anything.”

She kept her hands up in full view as she said this. Aura glared and glanced between her and Momonga.

“Narberal go confirm that Ainz-sama is ok.”

Aura kept her eyes glued on Kelpie as Narberal moved to Momonga’s side and softly called out to him. With a jolt, Momonga’s red eyes brightened in awareness and he looked around. He coughed into his hand and waved off the concern of Aura and Narberal. 

“Ah forgive me, I got lost in my thoughts. Aura, you can relax. She means us no harm.”

He gave Aura a pat on the shoulder as he passed by and approached Kelpie.

“It’s been quite a while hasn’t it?”

He opened his mouth in an attempt to show a friendly smile but without facial muscles, it gave the impression that he wasn’t finished talking. Kelpie raised one eyebrow with a smile.

“A while? It hasn’t been that long. I mean I saw you at the shutdown... Wait no, I forgot that I didn’t message you. Well before that it had been like maybe two weeks? It wasn’t a long meeting per se, but still a meeting. So about three weeks counting the time we’ve been here. But i’m so happy to see you! I was worried I was gonna be here with only Goren to keep me company.”

“....You’ve only been here a week?”

“Yes? How long have you been here?”

Momonga looked off to the side with an unreadable expression, thinking about something. Just looking at it gave Kelpie the sense of something deeply disturbing him. She reached a hand out to comfort him, but he sighed and straightened up before she could.

“Is there a place we can talk privately?” 

“Uh yeah, absolutely. Follow me and I’ll take us there. Goren, lead Aura and Narberal to the guest’s lounge.”

“Excellent.”

________________

The room Kelpie led Momonga to was the designated meeting room. It was furnished with a long dark treant wood table with padded chairs around it. The room had been built only for the aesthetic. There weren’t many people she was friendly enough with to show her base, let alone have a meeting with. Normally she would have led Momonga to the lounge so he could be comfortable but with their NPCs and the seriousness he showed, this room felt more adequate.

She looked at the wall in front of her. The indent was easy to find, but she hesitated to push it. The realization hit her that she had never shown him her base before. She was very proud of her base and everything that was in it, but it could be seen as ugly to Momonga. Afterall, he was the guildmaster of the greatest designed base in all of Yggdrasil. It was impossible to find one more ornately decorated. Hers paled in comparison to it.

She glanced behind her to see his reaction. Her voice betrayed her, letting out a small yelp when she did. Momonga was staring directly at her and appeared confused at her peeking. Turning back towards the door, she tried to pretend nothing had happened.

“Is something wrong?”

“No! Nothings wrong haha.”

Ok, so he didn’t look like he was judging her base. This was good. She was good. She clenched her fist tight and finally slid her hand into the indent. The door opened easily but instead of it being silent like usual, the stone scraping on the floor was so loud and horrible it sounded like nails on a chalkboard. Fuck, did he hear it too? She hoped not. 

She slid to the side and gestured for him to go first, anxiously following him when he did.The door slid shut behind them, still audibly horrible. Momonga took the opportunity to drop down into the closest chair and roll his shoulders back. Kelpie copied him, taking the chair next to him and relaxing into it. Maybe both of them were anxious. 

She gave him a crooked smile.

“You’ve been pretty stressed huh? Makes sense though. When I first arrived, I couldn’t help but freak out. I even ended up passing out after…after a panic attack.” 

She narrowly avoided telling Momonga about the massacre of the village. If possible, she didn’t want to let him know anything about her new violent tendencies and eating habits. 

“Yes, it's certainly been an interesting adjustment. It’s actually near impossible for me to freak out. I have an emotional regulator that suppresses any strong emotions I feel.”

“Really?” Kelpie asked in interest, “That sounds both useful and annoying. I’ve dealt with muted emotions before and it’s not always the best.”

Kelpie took a moment to look Momonga over. His skeletal face was still emotionless. Of course it was, There were no muscles to contract and show a change. She imagined herself smacking her forehead. Still, it felt like there was some lingering negativity hanging over him.

“Are you doing ok? If I can do anything to make things better, just let me know. I promise to do so with the best of my abilities..”

Momonga opened his mouth to say something, then closed it. He visibly mulled something over in his mind, then spoke tiredly.

“Yes, I’m ok. I’m just...happy to see you.”

It was obvious that he was leaving something unspoken but didn’t point it out. It was likely just as obvious to him that she was doing the same. They stared at each other, then looked away as an awkward silence took over the room. What should she say to him? There was so much but so little to say. I’m happy to see you too, but also terrified that you’re here. I’ve done things that would make another sick and enjoyed it. By the way, I have a prisoner in one of these rooms that I plan to eat later. She puffed out a laugh then pretended it was a cough fit when Momonga glanced at her.

“I-”

“How-”

They both spoke at the same time, cutting each other off, and creating even more awkward silence.

“You-”

“You-”

They cut each other off again and stared at each other. Kelpie began chuckling and Momonga followed suit until they were full on laughing. With a smile, she motioned her hand for him to go first. Momonga opened his mouth in a smile and asked.

“How did you end up here? You said that you’d be here for a week, but i’ve actually been here with all the NPCs and the tomb of Nazarick for around two months.”

“What? That’s so weird! Um well, I didn’t really do anything special. I was just waiting for the countdown to end and, when it did, my avatar became my actual body. I could feel things and move my body freely. I found that Goren had become alive and that the base had been transported to a random mountain by a forest. I really don’t know how it happened.”

“Goren? Is that the angel that led us here?”

“Oh yeah, haha I guess I never really showed him to anyone except Zoba. He’s my NPC. I made him from a world item.”

Momonga caressed his chin.

“Interesting. I also ended up here after the shutdown ended. Nazarick was moved to grasslands. Neither of us seems to understand what happened or why we came at different times.”

“Seems so,” Kelpie laughed happily causing the corner of her eyes to crinkle. “How has it been with all the NPCs of Nazarick? Goren has this extremely elevated view of me. Get this, he considers me some kind of goddess. In his mind I can do no wrong. It's ridiculous, I've literally fallen unconscious in front of him.”

“Seriously?”

“Yeah! Can you believe it? How could someone see me as something as all powerful as a goddess.”

“No, not that. I can believe that. Those in Nazarick act the same exact way. But you’ve been vulnerable in front of him and he’s still as revering?”

Kelpie peered at him with an eyebrow raised.

“Yes?” She said, purposefully extending the word in confusion. “I’ve tried to get him to stop being so strict and awe-inspired all the time but no such luck. I’m pretty sure it makes him happy, so I’ve just been treating him the way he wants to be treated.”

“Huh.”

Momonga peered off to the side with his hand on his mouth, deep in thought. She tilted her head and stared at him, trying to understand what he was thinking about. 

“Why did you want to know?”

He turned his head a small amount to look at her, answered her, then focused back on his thoughts.

“It’s just related to something i’ve been contemplating for awhile. Give me a moment.”

She nodded and waited patiently. A minute passed when he suddenly stood up.

“Alright, I want to try something. Would yo-”

A loud scream of pain and anguish echoed through the cave, cutting him off. A very sudden and unpleasant realization hit Kelpie. Shit, shit, shit, shit, no no no no no! He can’t find out about this. Momonga quickly turned toward the direction the sound had come from as she rushed towards the door. He started to ask her what was up, but she dashed out before he could finish. There was no way she was gonna try to explain this. Covering it up before he could find out would be for the best.

She pushed her body as fast as it would go down the hall until she reached the guest’s lounge. The door ground loudly against the wall as she threw it open with all her strength. Large splinters of stone cracked off and flew in all directions. She shoved her head into the room but it was completely void of people. An angry hiss, sounding closer to glass shattering than a snake hiss, burst from her throat. Fuck! Where had they gone? 

She shouldn’t have left punishing the thieving bastard to Goren! Her fist slammed into the wall, leaving a large indent in her anger. Now she had no clue what room the man was in and couldn’t silence him. Her nails dug into her skull as she pulled her hair in frustration. There were so many rooms where the man could be. He could even be in one of the empty rooms. She shouldn’t have left the man alive! If she had killed him, she wouldn’t be in this situation. She gnashed her teeth together and tried to think. Where would Goren have taken him? Think, think, think.

Suddenly, bony hands grabbed hers and pulled them away from her skull. Her shoulders sank with disappointment and she looked up to see exactly who she didn’t want to. Momonga’s face was leaning over hers. She couldn’t see it, but she knew he was scrutinizing her facial expression that was scrunched up with fear and anger. Momonga released a sigh and, still holding onto her hands, moved to be in front of her. This wasn’t what she wanted! She didn’t want him to find out! She harshly yanked her arms away, trying to escape, but he just tightened his grip in response. Defeated, she let her head hang down limply, avoiding his eye contact and hiding her shame.

“Tell me what's wrong.”

She flinched at the solemn seriousness in his voice.

“Momonga...I...I can’t. Please don’t ask me that.”

Small tears rolled down her cheeks as a harsh tightness squeezed her chest, making it hard for her to breathe. She couldn’t tell him. She just couldn’t. His grip loosened at her statement and she tried to pull away slowly so he wouldn’t notice. About half of her hand slipped out of his when he grabbed her wrists again.

“If it was any less serious I would wait until you were ready to tell me, but,” He pulled her up by her arms so she was looking at him again. He shook his head, then her left hand to bring her attention to it. “You made yourself bleed and didn’t even notice.”

Now that he mentioned it, she could see blood coating her fingers. There was a lot and she started to feel the pain. The top of her head was incredibly hot and stung like salt poured onto a wound. There was even a small trickle of wetness trailing down the side of her head. How deep had she cut into her skin? She squeezed her eyes shut, then took a shuddering breath and opened them to stare into Momonga’s eyes.

“I don’t...know what to say. I just can’t tell you. Just, please.”

She released the sob she was holding back. Heavier tears slid down her face and fell onto the floor with a soft plop. She shoved her face into her bicep to silence her wails but the muffled sound was still fairly audible. 

There was a moment of awkwardness as Momonga stood there in uncertainty. He fidgeted nervously before he gently let go of her wrists and wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug. Caressing her head lightly, he whispered.

“Hey, it’s ok. I’m sure we can figure it out. You uh can take the time you need. It’ll be ok.”

Surprisingly the bony arms around her felt warm and comforting. Her eyes burned as the tears flowed faster. It was so shameful to have him comfort her. If he knew the horrible things she had done, he wouldn’t even want to touch her. He would throw her away in disgust and she wouldn’t even blame him.

They stayed there for several minutes until the last of her tears ran dry. She gently pushed him away and he let her without any resistance. Embarrassed, she turned her head to the side, sniffling, and refused to look at him. Momonga pulled a handkerchief out and held it out for her. Without turning her head, she moved her eyes to look at him. His mouth was halfway open in a sort of small smile. A watery laugh escaped her. She forgot how cute he could be sometimes. She ran a hand through her hair and winced at the stab of pain that hit her. Right, that. She pulled her hand away to examine it. There were only small clumps and flakes of dried blood, so it was safe to assume the wound had clotted. She took a deep breath in, then let it out before finally turning back to Momonga and gently taking the handkerchief with a small smile. Her fingers brushed out the wrinkles before she blew her nose into it. 

“I bet I look so attractive right now,” She joked, carefully putting the handkerchief away and striking a silly pose.

Momonga froze a moment before bursting out laughing.

“Absolutely, second to no one!”

Kelpie joined in laughing for a few moments before her smile turned sad again.

“...Is there anything I can do to make you forget all of this?”

“No,” Momonga replied shaking his head, “There’s obviously something deeply troubling you and, as your friend, I can’t just ignore that.”

He reached his hand out to pat her head, but retracted it, remembering her injury. He pulled a potion out from his inventory and poured it onto her head. The red liquid pooled on her head, then evaporated with a green glow, knitting her skin back together. Once it finished, he pet her head soothingly.

“You didn’t even think to use a potion on your injury.”

His voice was full of concern causing her chest to tighten uncomfortably. She brushed his hand off with a grimace and ran her own through her hair to fix it. 

“...I would have with time. You’ve been here longer than me, old man. You know more.”

Momonga gave her a pointed stare and sighed.

“I’m not that old and you’re deflecting.”

Kelpie opened her mouth to dispute him, but closed it after seeing his expression. There was an aura of sterness around him. She gave in with a quiet voice.

“Alright, I’ll be easier if I were to show you. I hope you won’t hate me for it.”

Now that she was calmer she could think more clearly. She didn’t know which room the man was in, but she could easily find out. She took out a message scroll and burned it, sending the message to Goren, making sure to speak soft enough that Momonga could not easily overhear.

“Goren, I need to know where you are keeping the man we captured.”

The reply came immediately.

“Yes, my lady. It is the room to the left of my quarters. I’m currently there with Aura and Narberal, would you like me to come escort you?”

“....Repeat that.”

“Yes, my lady. It is the room to the left of my quarters. I’m currently there with Aura and Narberal, would you like me to come escort you?”

She stared blankly at the wall as she internalized his statement. Goren was at the torture room with Aura and Narberal. Aura and Narberal, who were the NPCs of the Great Tomb of Nazarick and reported to Momonga. Kelpie covered her face with her hands and screamed internally. She wouldn’t even get the chance to show him first and explain herself.

“Kelpie?”

“My lady?”

Both Goren and Momonga spoke at the same time, concerned about her silence and behavior. She tilted her head back and took a deep breath. Things kept getting worse but she could do this. She already cried all her tears so she was good on that end. The only thing that could go wrong was never being able to interact with Momonga again. Why on earth would she have to worry about that?!

“Hahahaha yes, I’m fine. Perfectly fine, 100% fine. I don’t need an escort. We will be there soon.

“Understood.” Goren said before the message ended.

She twirled around to face Momonga and gave a large forced smile.

“Shall we get going then?”

________________

“...Yes.”

Ainz answered her with some hesitance. He wanted to bring up the forced cheer she was forcing on herself, but if he did, it might just distract both of them again. It was both frustrating and worrying to have so much happen in so little time. A part of him whispered if it had been any of his guildmates that had come here, he wouldn’t have so much trouble. He’d know the right thing to say and would be able to help. There would be more trust between them and more familiarity. It was a selfish thought that he couldn’t get rid of. It hung above him everytime he spoke with her. Everything would be easier if someone else had come. Ainz smiled bitterly and shoved the thought to the corner of his mind. It would be better if the thought stayed off to the side indefinitely.  
Kelpie began to move down the hallway and he quickly followed after her. Her gait was more awkward than earlier. She held herself very upright and straight, similar to how he walked as the ruler of Nazarick, except it looked very unnatural on her. He didn’t know her as much as others, but he knew a good amount of her personality. She was very headstrong and casual. She walked with purpose, but also with a relaxed posture. The only times she walked like that was when she felt she was walking to some sort of guillotine. Not a walk of shame, but a walk of stubborn pride in the middle of doom. He recalled a story he heard her tell in the past of how she had gotten in trouble with her boss. She thought she was gonna get fired the next time she came in, but didn’t want to avoid it. So the next time she came in, she walked with her back straight and with purpose. If she was gonna get fired, she’d do it while being brave. That same fear and bravery showed in her current posture. 

What was making her feel so trapped and terrified? Was it him? He hoped not. He didn’t want the awkwardness and avoidance to continue. Letting her continue this way and eventually avoid him was not an option. He would not go back to the loneliness of being only Nazarick’s ruler. 

Kelpie suddenly stopped in front of him and he did the same. She turned to the side and stared intently at the wall. It looked the same as every other wall except for the small indent that was on every other door. He moved around her to see better, but didn’t notice anything worth giving her pause. Ainz didn’t have the intelligence that Demiurge or Albedo had, but he was still smart enough to notice signs of hesitance. Similar hesitance to what he displayed before meeting the guardians. She didn’t want to go inside. He gently placed a hand on her shoulder and asked.

“Would you like me to go first?”

Her eyes stayed locked on the wall and her fists trembled from the strength she gripped them with.

“...No. I can do this and I will.”

She took a deep breath while tilting her head back, then let it out. He resisted the urge to pat her back. It would likely not be helpful to either of them. Her eyes opened and she surged forward. The door slowly slid open and the thick scent of iron wafted out. Metal? Right, she had the blacksmith class, but why would she be worried about showing him a smithery?

She motioned him forward and he did so, stepping into the room. The first thing he noticed was the much stronger scent. The second was the NPCs gathered in the middle of the room. The last was a huddled figure the NPCs were gathered around. A huddled figure dripping with blood with his eyes rolled back in unconsciousness. Ainz froze staring at the scene. If he had eyelids, he would be blinking repeatedly. Of all the things he expected to be in the room, this was the most unlikely of all. 

But really, didn’t it make sense? Ainz began to chuckle, then full out laugh, drawing the attention of all the other inhabitants. Of course! He knew her character had a low karma just like he did. Not as much as he did, but still low. Why hadn’t he thought of this? He had also done absolutely evil deeds, he should have recognized a scream of pain. His emotions numbed back down as his emotional suppressor hit him. He clicked his tongue in annoyance, he really hated that thing sometimes. Aura captured his attention with a yell as she motioned him over.

“Ainz-sama, you should see this! Narberal and I have never seen this before.” 

Ainz smiled and came to see what she was referring to, leaving a shell shocked Kelpie behind him. Aura beamed at him and pointed to an object within the angel’s hand. His name was Goren if Ainz remembered right. He was holding a bright purple gem within his hands. Ainz stroked his chin with interest.

“Tell me about it.”

Instead of Aura responding as Ainz expected, Goren spoke.

“It was given to me by my lady. I do not possess a high enough level to know its name, but I know it attacks a person’s soul. We’ve been experimenting with it on this man.”

Ainz’s eyes lit up with interest and delight. The collector in him was fascinated at the rare item.

“Hoh? That’s a Spectral Amethyst. I’ve tried several times in the past to get one but was never successful. It's quite amazing that Kelpie was able to get one.”

Aura and Narberal immediately set their sights on the gem, intent on trying to get it, but Goren pulled it away and shielded it from view.

“I apologize but it was a gift from my lady. I will not give it away.”

Ainz was filled with mirth at the statement. Of course! He wouldn’t give away such a valuable item either.

“Don’t worry. I won’t try to take it. I’m simply curious about the effects of the gem and why you have the man tied up.”

Goren gave a nod and brought the gem closer to Ainz so he could see it better.

“Understood. We’ve noticed when we bring the gem in contact with his body and have the intent to harm, he receives excruciating pain. If the intent is missing, it does nothing except steal the man’s body heat. It took a full minute of contact with intent for the fool to pass out. He’s tied up because he dared to cheat my lady. She has been gracious enough to let me punish him with the stipulation he be kept alive.”

Aura piped in with Narberal nodding in agreement.

“It’s been very interesting! I think Neuronist would find it especially so.”

“Very informative. Why does the man need to be kept alive? Does he have valuable information?”

“That is because my la-”

“Goren!”

Kelpie’s voice cut off Goren’s words and all eyes turned to look at her. She flushed red with embarrassment and tried to brush off her outburst.

“Ah ahem… I will explain the rest to him. Ainz, would you follow me?”

She didn’t wait for an answer and simply slithered out the door. Ainz silently applauded her choice. He didn’t want to explain things to her in front of the NPCs either. He stepped out to see her leaning against the wall with one hand covering her red face. Her voice was choked like she was about to cry again.

“I, well, the truth is… the truth is Ihavetoeathumanoidstolive”

Her face was scrunched up tight when she rushed the last words andAinz stared at her in confusion. The words had garbled together, so he wasn’t able to understand it.

“I couldn’t understand. Could you repeat that?”

“I uh said that I um have to eat humanoids to live.”

Her voice lowered to a whisper at the end but he was able to understand this time. 

“Really?” He asked with an amazed tone.

“Yes, uh I think it's from being a man eating naga. I tried it out and can’t eat other food...Wait, why aren’t you upset with me??”

Her voice was incredulous as she asked but Ainz couldn’t do anything but smile in response. 

“I was worried about the same thing actually. I’ve probably done things worse than you have and thought you may hate me for it.”

“What? I, I guess you also don’t feel guilty about what you’ve done either.”

“No, not really. I know the human side of me would be disgusted but I just don’t feel anything about it.”

Kelpie shifted her eyes away.

“I don’t feel guilt, but I feel regret? Sadness?Some kind of way I don’t know how to describe. There are so many new emotions that I don’t know how to deal with or categorize. I feel so lost. I thought when you found out, you’d be disgusted and never want to see me. Maybe there was even a part of me that wanted it, so I could actually feel bad about it.”

Her breathing quickened and she clutched her throat at the beginning of a panic attack. Moving quickly, he pulled her into another hug and rubbed her back soothingly.

“I can’t claim to know what to do about everything, but I know that things’ll be easier with the two of us together. We’ll figure it out. Ok?”

Kelpie nodded into his chest and he ignored the wetness on the front of his robe. 

“Once you feel better, how about you come with us to Nazarick and officially meet the NPCs? I’ll properly explain things so you won’t get attacked again.”

Kelpie laughed and leaned back to look at him.

“I don’t know, it keeps my skills fresh”

Ainz opened his mouth into a large grin.

“In that case, i’ll have them all attack you at once. See how long you last.”

“I said keep my skills fresh, not murder me.”

They both smiled at each other, then began to laugh. Kelpie let go of him and lightly slapped his arm.

“Thanks Momonga.”

“You’re welcome, though i’ve actually changed my name to Ainz Ooal Gown.”

“Pff well aren’t you the little narcissist? Naming yourself after the guild.”

“I uh well i just thought it would help others find me, you know?”

Kelpie laughed harder and gave him a soft smile.

“I do, thank you...Ainz.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Btw I totally made up Ankoro Mochi Mochi's karma rating. It is not officially known but based on her personality, I made it positive lol. Also its pretty obvious but I adore comforting Ainz and head pats X3
> 
> Thanks for reading everyone! As usual let me know what you thought! I enjoy reading it!


End file.
